Galactik Football: Season 3
by xUnicornsRulex
Summary: The Snow Kids are going to try and win the cup for the third time but when a team mate disappears and Ahito mysterious illness returns, how can the Snow Kids focus on football?
1. THRID TIMES A CHARM

**I do not own Galactik Football**

**GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_On every planet in the galaxy you'll find the flux. A powerful magical energy, here on Akillian we call it the Breath. Flux is so strong that it had to be band, except in Galactik Football, the most spectacular sport in the universe. After nineteen years, against all the odds the Snow kids won the cup for the second time in a row, stunning the entire galaxy, now they're attempting to do it again but new changelings lie ahead. Our fate is in their hands. Galactik Football. _

**THRID TIMES A CHARM**

Genesis stadium was a magnificent place, here you had amazing sites to visit, shops to see and five star hotels that made you wish you could never leave. The most amazing event happened here every four years; the Galactik Football cup, where the best football teams in the galaxy, battle it out for the title, Champion. In a hotel close by specifically made for football players. Our young heroes are training to keep the title of the Champions and win the cup for the third time.

"D'jok, pass the ball, Micro-Ice is wide open!" Aarch shouted through the microphone. D'jok instantly passed the ball into the air. Micro-Ice dribble the ball down the field, dodging three Shadows player before passing it to Rocket who made an excellent goal, turning the score 4-0. "Excellent Rocket! Now get back to position, you still have ten minutes before trainings over." Aarch shouted excitedly. On the pitch D'jok gave Rocket a high five, as they walked back to their paces. D'jok faced a smirking Sinedd. In real life, the real Sinedd would show in an evil expression because he wouldn't have liked the fact that his team was losing. The team played well for the last ten minutes with D'jok scoring another goal. Micro-Ice nearly scored another goal but the ball disappeared before he had a chance to kick it. "Ok, that's enough training today." Aarch voice echoed on the pitch, which also disappeared. The Snow Kids found themselves back in the training room, with their coach, medic and professor, smiling back at them. "Well done, that was an excellent training session, as a treat I'm letting you have the rest of the day off but don't stay up too late you've got training early tomorrow."

"Thanks Coach!" All of the team cheered, as they ran to their rooms, with their two other reserved team mates, following them out of the training room. Once they exited the room, all of the couples that existed in the team kissed each other, except Rocket and Tia. While the twins and Mark, could only watch from the sides and began to make gagging noises at the couple's romance. Until D'jok and Micro-Ice somehow managed to slipped of their shoes and chuck it at them. Forcing the twins and Mark to make a run for it; laughing as they went.

"So, you want to go and see a movie or something?" Micro-Ice asked Yuki, who was still laughing at her cousin's silly behaviour, at least it was an improvement from when they used to give evil glares when she and Micro-Ice had first started dating. In fact it was so bad that they used to step in between them to stop them from holding hands, it wasn't until Yuki threaten to tell the journalists what their baby names were when they were younger that they regrettably became more supportive about her relationship with Micro-Ice.

"Yeah why not?" She answered with a sly grin on her face, there was this new horror movie she wanted to see and one way or another; she was going to force Micro-Ice to come with her. However, Micro-Ice could already sense what she was thinking when the sly grin appeared on her face. He signed to himself because he knew not matter what; he was going to give into that cute smile she always gave him when she wanted something. "What about you guys?" Yuki asked the four other people that were still with them.

"I was thinking of taking Mei out to dinner, unless you had other plans." D'jok turned to Mei with a loving look in his eyes.

"Dinner sounds good." She smiled back. They all turned to look at Tia and Rocket, who were both standing next to each other but their seemed to be a tense air between them.

"Sorry, guys but I've already got plans." Rocket replied and before anyone could say anything else he began walking down the hall. Everyone turned to Tia, who was also watching Rocket with a sad expression on her face.

"Are you ok Tia?" Mei questioned her best friend, forcing Tia to break her gaze from Rocket's back.

"Sorry, I've got plans as well." Tia claimed, also marching off with a look of determination on her face.

"Uh oh." Yuki and Mei muttered as the same time, making the boys look at their girlfriends with confused expressions on their face. Both of the girls had worried expressions on their faces. They could both tell Tia's and Rocket's relationship was out the edge of cliff and if someone didn't do anything soon; one of them was going to be pushed off it.

Meanwhile, Aarch had just finished talking with Dame Simbai about new training methods he was planning to set up for the Snow Kids, so they had better chance of winning the cup for a third time. A big yawn escaped his lips; he was beginning to think he was getting to old for this. He had just only reached his office in time to receive a call from Aduim.

"Hello Aduim, how are you?" Aarch asked politely. Even though they had started dating again three years ago, he still felt he needed to be careful around her. He had already broken her heart once there was no way he was letting it happen again. Aduim smiled sweetly back at him. Aarch still couldn't believe that through all these years Aduim still looked young and beautiful, not a single wrinkle or white hair had appeared on her face. Unlike him were his hair had turned completely white.

"I'm good thank you; I was just phoning to see if you wanted to go out tonight." She announced on the other end of the phone. It only took Aarch half a second to decide.

"I would love to Aduim." Aarch grinned. They quickly made arrangements to meet in an about ten minutes at a small cafe near the hotel that he and the Snow kids were staying out. When they both finally said good bye, he left a little note for Clamp or Dame Simbai to find if they were looking for him and to phone him if there was an emergency. As he strolled out of his office he couldn't help but feel over confident about this year's cup, even though the odds were against them one to a million.

D'jok was struggling to put a black tie on in his room. He had called a restaurant a few moments ago and made reservations, he was just about to put the black piece of material in the last loop when someone grabbed him on the shoulder, nearly scaring him to death.

"Micro-Ice, what the...?" He stopped talking when he saw it wasn't Micro-Ice trying to scare the hell out of him but his father; Sonny Blackbones. He honestly thought he was getting better at the whole dad sneaking up on him thing but he consider a few months ago that it was something he was never going to get use to it. "Dad, hey." D'jok managed to stutter out when he overcame his shock.

"Hey son, you look quite dashing." Sonny smiled proudly at his son. He regretted not be able to see his son as much as he liked but his pirate instincts wouldn't allow him; at least, not yet. "Taking Mei out to dinner." D'jok could only nod at his father's question.

"Yeah, coach let us finish training early, so I decided to take her for a night out before the whole cup starts." D'jok answered, finally finishing off his tie.

"Well don't let me keep you waiting, I just wanted to pop in and say good luck and let you know I'll be there for all your matches." He beamed at his son. D'jok instantly hugged his once long lost father.

"Thanks dad that means a lot." D'jok grinned back.

Tia had enough. In fact she partly blamed herself for letting it get this far. When Rocket had first started acting stress about the upcoming galactik football cup and locking himself in his room to study matches she had let it pass over her head, thinking it would pass. But it only got worse. Rocket began to lock himself in his room twenty four seven, blowing her off when she tried to talk to him, evening after training sessions. Determination filled her body as she prepared herself for tonight's events. Tia had tried nearly everything to get him to spend a bit of time with her, now she was going on the last defence she had. She was going to seduce Rocket. Tying up the last strap on her heels, she took the chance to look at herself in the mirror. She chose to wear a red dress the stopped half why down her thigh and carefully hugged her curves, giving her a curvy look, she also done her face up and chose to wear very high black heels. Satisfied with the results, she sneaked over to Rocket's room and lightly tapped on the door. When she heard Rocket call come in, she pushed the button and walked inside.

"Hey Captain." She tried to say seductively but failed when Rocket completely ignored her. Sighing to herself, Tia sat herself next to Rocket on the bed. "So, what you doing?" She asked, stretching her legs out in front of her and learnt back a little, so her well shaped legs would get caught in Rocket's eye sight.

"Taking notes." Rocket grunted back, completely ignoring Tia's attempts. Tia pushed her lips together in annoyance but she wasn't going to give up that easy. When you have the most stubborn person on the planet as your boyfriend, you learn to become just as stubborn.

"Well, I was thinking, since we've been working so hard maybe we could go for a walk or something" She suggested, placing her hand on Rockets arm and began to rub up and down it. "Or maybe go out for dinner or just..." She stopped when Rocket brushed her hand away from his arm.

"Tia, can't you see I'm busy, maybe another time." Rocket answered, as he continued to scribble notes down in his notebook. Tia could only sit there shocked. The only other time Rocket had acted like this was when he brushed her away for his crazy Neverball obsession. Deeply hurt and offended, she ran out of the room. Rocket didn't even try to stop her.

"Yay, I win again." Thran cried out when he blew up Mark's space craft. The single lads (as they liked to call themselves) were mucking around in their room. Just chilling and doing guy stuff.

"How is this possible? I was so close." Mark moaned, placing his head in his hands with a miserable look on his face but it quickly disappeared when he came up with a wicked idea.

"Gentlemen," He began, standing up from the bed and changed his posture, so it looked like he was about to make an important speech. "I have had enough of Thran kicking my butt at video games and watching our fellow teammates finding their sole mates. So I propose that we go out tonight and find us all a lady, since we..." Before Mark could finish he found himself bombarded with pillows, making him fall to the floor. Pushing the pillow out of his face Mark saw both Thran and Ahito laughing at him. "Real mature guys." He huffed, pushing himself off the fall. As the twins continued to laugh at him.

"Come on Mark, we're single for a reason, what makes you think the girl's brains would be working differently tonight?" Ahito yawned and place his head back on the pillow it had been resting on a few seconds ago, before he had to listen to that terrible speech. Thran and Mark both watched, as Ahito returned instantaneously went back to sleep.

Tia lay in her room depressed. It seemed the only thing Rocket cared about was football. She was still stroking her hand from when Rocket had pushed it away, like she had burnt it and was trying to sooth it better. She had no idea what to do, she loved Rocket so much and she couldn't bare breaking up with him but the way he had treated her lately made it seem like he didn't love her anymore. She grabbed one of Mei's wiped and began cleaning her smudged make up. A sudden anger burned inside, making her throw a pillow across the room. What had she down to deserve this? All she had ever done was love him, even through his Neverball obsession. Grabbing her purse from the nearby stand, she marched out of her room, determined to forget about Rocket for tonight and enjoy her night off.

The beeping of their alarm clocks was the first thing to wake all of the Snow kids. Most of them tried to ignore it at first, for example Micro-Ice had grabbed his pillow and placed it tightly across his head, trying to ignore the buzzing and muttering curses under his breath about how football was so much torture. Then Aarch's voice floated through the micro-phone.

"Get up and dressed Snow kids, training is in half an hour." All of the Snow kids started muttering curses to themselves before forcing themselves to get up.

"Good morning Tia." Mei yawned to the her best friend, while she stretched her arms above her head and wiped away the sleepy dust hovering in her eyes. That's when she finally noticed that the bed next to her had no person sleeping in it. "Tia!" Mei called out just in case her fellow team mate was in the bathroom. When no one answered she began to get worried. She didn't remember if her friend had been asleep when she got back last night. She had such a wonderful time dancing and eating with D'jok that she hadn't really paid any attention. Don't panic Mei, she told herself. She might have got up a bit earlier for some reason and is already in the training room. Quickly getting herself changed, she ran to the training room. Panic rose up in her chest when she realised everyone else was there; except Tia. "Has anyone seen Tia?" Mei asked, trying to keep herself calm. Everyone turned to face her, as she walked closer to her group of teammates and the staff.

"Isn't she with you?" Mark questioned dumbly, he could be such an idiot sometimes.

"No, otherwise I wouldn't be asking." Mei snapped back, making Mark hide behind D'jok. Everyone just stared at each other and then at Rocket.

"Don't look at me; I don't know where she is?" He answered honestly. Some of the Snow Kids couldn't help but feel annoyed with Rocket at that moment, since he was her boyfriend and should know where she was. None of them had missed the signs of how badly he had been treating Tia, even Ahito and he was asleep most of the time.

"All right Snow Kids, I'm sure Tia will join us any moment." Aarch stepped in, trying to keep the peace between the players. "For the moment Mark will take Tia's place." Before anyone could argue he ushered his players into the holo-trainer and took his post as coach. But as the session went by and Tia failed to show up, he couldn't help but start to worry about Tia's whereabouts. It seemed to be affecting the Snow Kids on the field as well, since their playing was starting to become sloppy. In the end, Aarch had to call the training session to a halt because he really didn't see the point of continuing if the Snow Kids weren't even going to try and play if they were worried. "What's the matter with you? You're acting like you've never played football in your lives." He demanded, even though he already knew the answer, he still needed to act like a coach.

"Sorry sir but we can't stop worrying about Tia." D'jok spoke out with all the Snow Kids nodding in agreement; including Rocket, even though he hadn't shown it, he was the most worried out of all of them. Aarch pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to calm himself down. Before he could say anything else a loud thud sounded behind the group of team mates.

"Ahito!" Thran cried out, kneely beside his brother. "Ahito, Ahito wake up!"

Bright lights burned her eyes as she opened them up. Pushing herself up she saw that she was lying on a white bed, surrounded by grey walls. Where was she? She thought to herself, as she carefully stood up to walk to the door but stopped when pained suddenly appeared around her head and neck. Wait, who was she? She asked herself after the pain had subsided. More light broke through the room as the door open, making more light come through.

"Good you're awake." The shadowy voice hissed. She slowly paced the arm that was shielding her eyes down, as her eyes grew adjusted to the light. The figure stepped forward to reveal a man in his forties, with white hair, a blue suit and a pink coat. "Are you ready to play Neverball?" He smirked.

"Yes sir." She answered, even though she had no idea what Neverball was or even liked the sound of it.

"Very good." The man grinned and waved her to follow. She rubbed the tiny device on the back of her neck before following the man out of the room.


	2. THE SEARCH

**I do not own Galactik Football**

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

"_as a treat I'm letting you have the rest of the day off."_

"_Thanks dad that means a lot."_

"_Tia can't you see I'm busy."_

"_Has anyone seen Tia?"_

"_Ahito, Ahito, wake up!"_

**THE SEARCH**

Everyone waited nervously outside the medical office, except Mei and Rocket who were trying to call Tia without any success. Rocket had got so desperate that he even tried phoning Tia's and his parents to see if they heard anything from her; both of the couples had said the same thing. No one knew where Tia had disappeared to. Mei had gone to the reception to ask the clerk who had replied that he had seen her leaving the building late last night but had not seen her come back. She asked if he knew where she had been going but sadly the man said he didn't know. Aarch was pacing back and forth like he usually did when he was worried and was waiting to find out if everything would be ok. How could everything go bad in just one morning? Everyone was thinking to themselves but was afraid to voice their opinions in case they made the situation worse than it already was. The one that was taking it the worse was Thran. He seriously thought his brother was getting better; they hadn't had to worry about the disease for months. The door to the medical room suddenly opened, making everyone look up to see a grim looking Dame Simbai.

"Dame Simbai is Ahito going to be ok?" Thran asked, not sure what to do with himself. He didn't want to ask the question but he knew he had to. Dame Simbai quickly shone Thran a quick smile, which seemed to relax him a little bit.

"He's fine but," She paused as she turned to Aarch. "I think we should put Yuki in Ahito's place just for a while, until I finished all my tests." Aarch nodded in understanding and turned to Yuki.

"Do you think you're up to it Yuki?" He asked.

"I'll do what I can coach." Yuki claimed, grabbing onto Micro-ices and Thrans hands for strength. Aarch nodded and was about announce everyone back to the training room but Rocket interrupted him.

"I'm going to go and look for Tia." He muttered and without asking anyone's permission began to walk out of the room. Aarch began to feel a little bit guilty because he had forgotten all about his nephew's girlfriend. He hadn't meant to forget, it just when Ahito fainted he got distracted. Before had a chance to argue with his nephew, Mei stood up?

"I'm going to look for her too." She whispered, making everyone turn to look at her, even making Rocket stop and turn. Even though she shouldn't have been surprise since Mei and Tia were best friends. She walked over to where Rocket was standing and they both walked out the room.

"I'm going too." D'jok suddenly spoke up. He and Tia had become more like a brother and sister ever since they worked together to bring back Rocket from Netherball and at the moment Tia's parents were trying to write up a contact with Duke Maddox, so he couldn't accuse Sonny ever again, without any evidence. He ran to catch up with his fellow teammate and girlfriend out of the room. Aarch really didn't have the heart to stop them, since he knew he couldn't prevent them in the first place and he too was starting to get worried about Tia.

"Ok Snow Kids, back to the training room. Even though we haven't got a full team, it won't stop us on working on a few team works excises." Aarch announced. Micro-Ice, Yuki and Mark all agreed, while Thran just gave a silent nod. He knew his brother would want him to keep training, even if he was worried sick about him but at least for now he knew his twin brother was all right. "Well, let's get going then." As soon as Aarch said it, all four Snow Kids and Clamp got up to head back to the training room.

She looked around the room that was filled with machines and a few people monitoring them. She didn't understand why she was here but whatever Harris said she followed. She didn't know why but she did. Scratching the device that was implanted in the back of her neck, she stretched out her arms and legs. She was fed up of all these health checks she had to have before she had to play this sport called Netherball. Sighing to herself, she began fiddling with her new football boots she had been given to play this strange sport. Along with the black football kit she had been given also.

"My dear how are you feeling?" Harris asked when he walked into the room with a huge smirk on his face. She didn't like it when he looked at her like that; it gave her the creeps.

"I'm fine sir." She replied politely, even though she felt far from well. Nothing made sense and she felt like she was longing for something or someone but couldn't put her finger on it.

"Good to hear." He smiled a wicked smile and turned to one of the people in the room and talked to him in hush tones. Despite all the confusion that was going on inside her head, she was certain of one thing. She wanted to get the hell out of here.

Aarch, Clamp and the four Snow Kids that were still left in the training room stood in silence, not daring to say anything to each other. They had to wait a few moments before officially starting the training session because Clamp was trying to up-load the information that Aarch needed to make one of his new training sessions ideas work. Aarch was standing patiently beside him, as he examined the team in front of him (well, the few members he had anyway) they were busying doing a few warm up exercises to keep themselves prepared and ready not to pull any muscles. As a coach he knew his players better than they thought. He didn't like they way that there was too much worry and tension in the air and he couldn't blame them. With one teammate in an unstable condition that seemed to not exist and another teammate who had mysteriously vanished off the face of the planet, they were bound to feel worried; it would be unnatural not to. Aarch hoped that his little idea would help to keep their minds off the worries for a little while.

"It's ready Aarch." Clamp spoke, slamming the door to where he had been rewiring the machine shut. The loud noise shook Aarch out of his thoughts.

"All right Snow Kids into the holo-trainer." He ordered. The Snow Kids walked into the middle of the room and waited for Clamp to type in the codes into his machine. The white squares suddenly appeared around them, forming a wall around them. The white room suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a football pitch. "All right Snow Kids, here's what I wanted you to do," He nodded to Clamp, who pressed a few more buttons on the holo-screen, making clones of the four Snow Kids standing on the pitch. "I wanted you to work together and beat your own clones."

"This is going to be easy!" Micro-Ice cheered and looked at his other teammates, who beamed back at him, as they stood in front of their clones. Except for Yuki, who was on the other side of the pitch from hers since she needed to be in goal?

"I'm surely better looking than that?" Mark objected, as he had a quick look at his own clone.

"Actually Mark, I think the clones better looking." Micro-Ice laughed, earning him a dirty look for Mark. Yuki could hear the whole conversation through her headset and was laughing her head off at Micro-Ice's and Mark arguing. Boys? She wondered to herself, do they ever grow up? They only stopped when Aarch shouted loudly into their headphones, making the boy's mutter apologises to their coach. The buzzer went off and the ball went flying up into the air. Mark jumped for it but his clone already knew what he was going to do and was able to get the ball first. The training start off badly; the boys kept losing the ball and Yuki was just barely able to keep up blocking the attacks from the clone version of their mini team. However, as the training session approached to half way through an idea clicked in Thrans head.

"Hey guys, do you remember when we played against our clones when we were training for the second cup." Thran asked. There was silence in his headphone for a minute before everyone muttered yes back, as everyone began to remember. "Well, what if we try switching each other's moves over to confuse the clones." He suggested.

"I knew there was a reason why you were the intelligent one in the family." Yuki smiled, as she realised what her cousin was suggesting. It took Mark and Micro-Ice a bit longer to figure it out before they also realised what Thran was saying.

"Let's do this." They all cheered at each other. Everything changed as a new fire burned within. They managed to score their own goals, when they started using not only their moves but some of their teammate's moves as well. The clones could not process the new information and were at a total lost. Micro-Ice scored the final goal, using Tia's back flip move.

"Well done Snow Kids." Aarch shouted in joy. "That's enough for today." He nodded towards Clamp who began pressing buttons, so the Snow Kids could be let out of the holo-trainer. He had been a bit worried at first because they hadn't seemed to get the idea of the exercise, until Thran shared his idea. Now he just hoped that the rest of his team would return, so they could all work together as a team. Just then his phone watch went off. He looked down to see his nephew's number.

"Any luck Rocket." Aarch asked but regretted when Rocket answered.

"No, we've asked around at the usual hang outs and looked in the new papers to see if she got caught on camera but no more seems to know where she is. I was just phoning to see if she had come back yet." Aarch sadly shook his head, even though Rocket already knew from the way his uncle had answered the phone that she hadn't returned. If Aarch hadn't had his back turned to the Snow Kids and had been paying attention, he would of notice the Snow Kids ease dropping on his conversation and had silently slipped out of the room when he wasn't looking, so they too could go and look for Tia.

They had been searching for ages without success. There searching had to stop a few times when fans and journalists had tried to get their autographs and quotes, it wasn't until Mei had brought them all sun glasses and a hat to cover D'joks bright red hair that they were able to search without any disturbances. But when the morning sun became the evening sun, the Snow Kids were starting to lose hope. Rocket slammed his phone shut. It was probably the millionth time he had tried to call Tia with no success. They had received a phone call a few hours ago from the teammates, saying they were coming to help but D'jok suggested that they try the other side of town; that way they had more of a chance finding her. How could this happen? Rocket muttered, not realising he had said it out loud.

"Well, it could do with the fact that you've been blowing her off for the past couple of weeks." D'jok pointed out, making Rocket look at him with a confuse look on his face.

"What? No I haven't!" Rocket argued back but for some reason didn't believe it himself.

"Oh come on Rocket be serious!" Mei demanded, teaming up with her boyfriend. Before Rocket could say another thing she added. "You've been ignoring Tia ever since you got your stupid captain band back, no wonder she's been in pain." Everything that Mei had shouted at him hit Rocket hard; like he had just taken a bullet. The last few weeks' memories went zooming in his head and last night... Oh no last night! Rocket mentally hit himself, how could he be so stupid? All she wanted to do was spend some time with him and what had he down, just brushed her aside like she was last week's dinner.

"I'm such an idiot, I didn't mean to... I mean I was only..." Rocket broke off when Mei screamed out loud. Everyone turned around to see two hooded figures standing behind them.

"Sorry to scare you." One of the man said, brushing back his hood to reveal it was Corso with a wicked smile on his face like he had found scaring them fun. The other figure pulled back his hood and took off his goggles to reveal Sonny Blackbones.

"Dad!" D'jok cried out in surprise. Rocket and Mei couldn't say anything since they were still trying to get over their first shock. "What are you doing here?" Sonny's son questioned, after getting over his own shock.

"I got a call from Tia's parents saying that their daughter's gone missing and asked if we could help find her." Sonny answered with a nod from Corso standing next to him. Corso wasn't the type of man to look at everyone with respect, especially since he had joined the pirates. But Tia had earned his respect almost instantly when he saw how brave she was when she came face to face with Sonny and asked for his help to recues her parents. When Corso had heard that she had gone missing, he was instantaneously one of the first to agree to help look for her.

"Well we hope you have had better luck then us because we've looked everywhere and still haven't found her." Mei added, overcoming her shook.

"You can't have looked everywhere otherwise you would have found her." Sonny injected, making Mei's face turn red in embarrassment. "We'll split when we reach the end of this street." Sonny ordered, ignoring Mei's blush. He hadn't meant to embarrass her; he was stating a point. The five of them began to walk to the end of the street. Even though Rocket had told himself that the last phone call would be his last, he couldn't help but try again. He had to know she was safe, otherwise he would never forgive himself; heck, he wouldn't forgive himself even when they did find her because of the way he had been acting like idiot for the past few weeks. He typed in her number and waited for someone to pick up. He froze when he heard something ringing nearby. Rocket ran off in the direction of the ringtone. Mei was the second to recognise the ringtone and immediately followed Rocket, with the other three following close behind.

"Tia!" Rocket shouted, as he jumped over random boxes that were laying about in the alley. His blood froze when he saw Tia's phone laying in the dirty floor. He knelt down beside it and carefully picked it up; he could see that 99 have been type into the screen.

She sat on the bed in the room she had first woken up in, silently thinking to herself. She didn't understand. Why couldn't she remember anything? She must be somewhere in her early twenties, surely she must have more memories then waking up in this tiny room. Before she had a chance to think any further the door opened and Harris walked in.

"My dear are you ready to play." He smiled, even though it wasn't a nice smile.

"Of course sir." She answered, even though she didn't want to. She followed the man out of the room and down the hall ways. She had not been down this place before but as a bright light from the end of the hall way began to get bigger and bigger, so did the sound of cheering. Once she stepped out of the hallway, she could properly see how big the area was. It looked like some kind of underground club with people that looked like they came from other football teams standing around the sides and yelling their heads off. There was also a round looking object, hanging in the centre of the room and screens surrounding it.

"It's time." Harris whispered behind her, as he pushed her towards the floating sphere in the middle of the room.


	3. THE RETURN OF NEVERBALL

**I do not own Galactik Football**

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

"_I think we should put Yuki in Ahito's place just for a while..."_

"_Let's do this."_

"_You've been ignoring Tia ever since you got your stupid captain band back..."_

"_My dear are you ready to play."_

**THE RETURN OF NEVERBALL**

Rocket could only stare at the broken screen that lay in his hand. He honestly didn't know how to react; so many emotions ran through his body that it made it impossible for him to react to all of them at once. Mei finally caught up to him and knelt beside Rocket to see what he was holding, freezing when she saw what it was. The others finally caught up, as Mei got over her shock a little bit and tried to help Rocket to his feet but with no success. Sighing to herself she gently took the watch from his hands and handed it to Sonny. The leader of the pirates quickly examined the watch with a serious but deeply sad look in his eyes. They all stood there for a few moments in their own thoughts, Mei tried to make another attempt to help Rocket stand up but he still refused to move.

"So what are we going to do?" D'jok questioned, breaking the silence. Mei looked at her boyfriend and then back at Rocket. She could see the pain on her teammates face but didn't know how to help. She rubbed the back of her head and looked down to the other end of the dark alleyway. Suddenly, she spotted something that she didn't want to see.

"I don't think phoning the police is an option." She answered, making everyone turn to look at her with stunned looks; even Rocket.

"What makes you say that?" D'jok demanded from his girlfriend.

"Well, I don't think we can trust them, unless they don't have robot's that have size twelve feet with a Technoid symbol in the middle of it." She pointed out, indicating to the large footprints that lay in the dirt, along with small ones that seemed to have belonged to Tia. From what everyone could see there seemed to be some kind of struggle between human and robot. Mei hadn't notice that Sonny had walked next to her, until he spoke.

"Good work Mei." He smiled at his son's love but turned serious again when he looked back at D'jok and Corso. Sonny knew he couldn't just go singling Duke Maddox out. The only people that had access to Technoid robots were the police and anyone high up in Technoid system itself. As part as their new agreement Sonny couldn't go accusing Duke Maddox without any evidence, just as Maddox couldn't accuse him. If what Mei had said was true, then they couldn't go to the police because the place was just crawling with Technoid robots; anyone of them could have been the robot that took Tia. If he was going to track her down he needed to do this carefully and build up evidence. "D'jok, you and your friends go back to your hotel and inform Aarch of the situation, tell him we can trust the police and that I'm on the case." It wasn't a debate but an order. It felt weird treating his son like another pirate but was happy that D'jok seemed to understand and nodded to his father's plan.

She figured where ever this Netherball game was being held, it was in that sphere thing. As she approached the object in the middle the roar of the crowd began louder. She didn't take interested in why; all she could focus on was getting it over with. In the upper levels of the room, two ex-Wamba players watched the small figure walk towards the Sphere.

"See my good friend, I told you she would come back, she's the best!" The fat one shouted out in joy when he noticed the Queen of the Sphere glimmer among the crowds of football players. The skinny and tall one could only huff in disappointment. Now he had to give his friend twenty pounds. Despite his displeasure that he had lost the bet with his friend he couldn't help but wait for the event to start. He wanted to know if the little girl was able to keep her title in the Sphere; which he highly doubted. Approaching the Sphere, she could see a tall skinning figure, wearing a black football kit with a green stripe around the edges of his sleeves. He didn't notice her approach at first, until he turned his head in her direction.

"You can't be serious." The other person laughed, pointing at her. "Oh this is going to be sweet, just wait until Rocket see's me beat you; hard." The guy smirked. She just shrugged; she didn't care if this guy taunted her like that. All she wanted to do was get this thing over with. Besides, who was this Rocket person and why would he care if she got her ass kicked? She didn't have any more time to ponder this question because the robot referee announced the beginning of the match. Herself and her rival walked into the bright light where a door to the machine had opened. She could feel the guy's eyes on her the whole time but she just ignored him and entered the object. The room was quite big despite the appearance on the outside and was white with grey swirls. She had this weird feeling that she had been here before but quickly shook the feeling away, if she had been here before she would of remembered; at least she hoped. "There's still a chance to run away if you want." The guy grinned, as they stopped in the middle of the room facing each other. Similar to the other times she kept silent and just stared into space, like she couldn't control her body function. A ball suddenly appeared in front of them and before she could take into account what was going on the guy pushed her down. She just put her hands on the floor to stop herself in time and chased after the skinny man with the ball. The adrenaline pumped through her body like an energy drug, as she slammed into the guy and stole the ball away from him and scored into the random holes in the wall. On an outside a huge cheer roared from the crowd, as cries of support for Tia echoed through the room. Oblivious to what was going on outside, Tia walked back to the middle of the room. A huge smirk grew on her face when she saw the angry guy walked back over to where he was standing with an angry expression smacked across his face. The buzzer sounded again and the ball appeared. Immediately, she used all her weight to smash into him and dribble the ball, performing a backwards kick in the air; scoring again. The game continued like this for what seemed like only a few seconds to her but was instead a full hour, ending the game in 6-0 to her. She could sense the annoyance and anger build up in her humiliated opponent but she didn't care. The only thing she cared about was the power flowing through her body; she never felt so alive. Ignoring the chants from her supporters, she marched back up into the small hallway where Harris was standing.

"Very good my dear." He smiled with a cruel smile spread across his face. "Impressive but I'm sure we can do better can't we." Tia only nodded at what the man said, as a battle began tearing itself through her body.

"What?" Aarch demanded. D'jok just finished telling everyone what was going on, after he phoned the other guys to meet him back at Aarch's office. Everyone sat there shocked; except Rocket, who felt to numb to react to anything at the moment. D'jok hated these moments when he was forced to repeat something that was going to make the person he was telling it to even angrier then before.

"Tia's been kidnap and we can't tell the police because we found evidence that could link to the police being involved, so my dad's trying to find her instead." D'jok repeated, putting it in a foot notes version this time. There was no point explaining the whole thing again when it was only going to take forever. Aarch pinch the bridge of his nose, as he felt a headache coming on.

"Alright, I'll go with your father's plan for now but I would like to at least like to inform Tia's parents." Aarch asked. He blamed himself for all of this mess, since he was pretty sure he must have jinxed it or something yesterday before he went out to see Aduim. How could this happen? It was nearly as bad as the last cup when Rocket disappeared but at least now they didn't have to worry about finding peoples at the last minute.

"Dad said he would phone them since he needs to talk to them anyway." D'jok answered, sitting into the chair next to Mei and holding her hand. He knew that everyone was going to have a tough time digesting this information but he knew Rocket and Mei were going to take it the worst. All he could do was try to comfort his fellow friend and love and try to keep the team together, in fact the whole team was going to have to try and put effort into holding them all together. Aarch dismissed them all and reminded them they had an evening training session. Even though Tia was missing they had to try and get on with their lives as much as possible, no one really liked the idea but with no leads and no experience in the investigating field they couldn't really do much. When they exited Aarch's office Mei dragged D'jok into her room, since it was now the only place they could be alone given that Tia wasn't there.

"Are you ok?" He whispered, feeling her grip on his hand tighten. She was on the verge of tears. He quickly pulled her close to him and tried to do all he could as she cried into his shoulder. Mei felt far from ok, her best friend had been kidnap; how does a person react to that?

"I'm scared D'jok, what if she's hurt? What if she's ..." Before she could finish, she found D'jok's warm lips against hers. A kind of hunger over came them, as she grabbed a fist full of his shirt and pulled him closer towards her. She continued to nip and suck on his lip, until she felt his tongue licking hers, asking for entrance which she gladly accepted. They only came apart when they broke for air.

"Tia's going to be ok; if Sonny says he'll find her then he'll find her." He smiled, stroking her warm wet cheek. Mei smiled a little and placed her forehead against his, she did a little nod and their lips locked again.

Sonny just finished one of the toughest talks he had ever had. It wasn't telling someone that their only daughter had been kidnap and they couldn't call the police when there was evidence that they could be involved with the kidnapping. At first he thought it might have been Duke Maddox to stop the new treaty between the Pirates and Technoid but when the ambassadors had told him they had received no demands for their daughter he began to think less of Duke Maddox and a feeling began to grow in the pit of his stomach that something more sinister was waiting in the shadows. Ready to jump on their backs when they least accepted it. He and the others had been searching the area of Tia's kidnapping (including hacking into the CTV mainframe) but except for the footprints and the broken watch, they had no lead. Sonny looked at the watch again; he knew Tia had put up a fight because of the footprints showed some kind of struggle and she had been obliviously trying to call for help because the broken screen showed 99 dialled into it. He rubbed his temples to try and calm the headache that was beginning to show. He couldn't help but think there was something more sinister plot happening somewhere. He hoped for Tia's sake, that his pirate instincts were wrong for once.

"Put some effort into it Rocket!" Aarch shouted out to his nephew, when he attempted to pass to D'jok but failed miserably and landed into the procession of Xenon's player. Rocket just sighed to himself and told himself to put more effort into it next time. Everyone wasn't playing at their total best but they were playing extremely well, despite the circumstances. Well, everyone except Rocket. He wasn't even trying. Using the flux Mei side tackled the Xenon from the side and passed it to Thran, who dribbled it and then past to Micro-Ice who kicked the ball into the goal. A few more minutes went by and D'jok was about to score his second goal when the ball suddenly disappeared, announcing the end of practice. The walls disappeared bringing the Snow Kids back to reality. "Alright Snow Kids, hit the showers. Expect you Rocket" Aarch ordered. The other small kids gave each other funny looks before leaving the room in silence.

"Poor Rocket." Yuki mumbled sadly when they were safely out of the room; since Micro-ice was walking right beside her, he instantly grabbed her hand. She was thankful for the small comfort and learnt closer to Micro-Ice. The group disappeared their separate ways. Thran disappeared from the group to go and see how Ahito was doing, when he went to see him earlier he was fast asleep but that was no surprise. He was hoping that his brother was awake now, so he could inform him of their teammate's disappearance. The couples went to their rooms to get some alone time and Mark just went to his room; miserable. The scene turned back to the training room with Aarch staring down at his nephew who was still standing of the middle of the training room. Clamp had disappeared earlier to give his friend some privacy.

"Rocket, I know taking in all of this is going to be hard but remember you've still got your team mates to think about and the next cup..." He tried to explain but Rocket quickly cut him off.

"How can you expect me to think about the cup? Tia has disappeared and you expected me to act like normal." He shouted back at his uncle, it was the only emotion except shock that had come over Rocket ever since they found out she had been kidnapped. He couldn't believe it. Tia was missing and all his uncle could think about was football. After his uncle overcame his shock he tried to say something else but was interrupted again. "You don't understand anything!" Rocket yelled. He didn't want to listen to anymore of his uncle's nonsense furthermore stormed out of the room. Aarch tried calling for his nephew to come back but Rocket wouldn't listen. Entering the sanctuary of his bed room, he threw himself onto the bed. Out of rage he slammed his fist down on the bedside table, knocking over a holo-ablum onto the floor. It must have landed funny or something because a picture of Tia and Rocket, staring lovingly at each other appeared. Rolling off the bed Rocket knelt down and picked the picture up; to examine it closer. Silent tears poured down his face. The picture had been taken a few days before Aarch announced the new season coming up. How could this happen, Rocket thought, letting his head fall in shame and hugging the picture close to his broken heart.

The lab wasn't a very big room but it was the only room that they could hook all the machines in. The machines needed a lot of power and they were quite close to a power station, so it was easy to hack into the power stations system and steal some of their energy. A young lab assistance sat staring at one of the screens. He had finished his jobs earlier and was now sitting bored out of his mind waiting for his next orders.

"How is the device holding up?" Harris asked walking into the room. The young assistance swung around in his chair to face him.

"The device is still at full power and the project is showing no signs of resistance. Through I still don't understand why you picked her. When I worked for Bleylock he seemed to be interested in that Rocket fellow." The nerd answered. Harris only laughed at himself and shook his head slightly.

"That's because he missed out an important detail out." Harris smiled; the young man could only watch in wonder and confusion as Harris typed in a few things onto the computer and brought up a video of today's match with the girl and the shadows player, the young man sigh when he saw nothing out of the ordinary. That is, until Harris typed in a few more buttons and the screen changed completely. The young assistance nearly choked on his coffee, as he learnt closer to the screen. What he saw was unthinkable, he had heard about this creation before but only from a few mumbles and whispers he had over heard from Harris and Bleylock four years before. "Do you understand now?" Harris question, as the young lab assistance could only nod his reply.


	4. DISCOVERY

**Sorry to take forever uploading a new chapter, just school and exams got in the way and I didn't have time to write down anything, plus I had a major (AND I MEAN MAJOR) writers block. Hope you like the chapter. :) **

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

"_So what are we going to do?"_

"_See my good friend, I told you she would come back, she's the best!"_

"_Tia's been kidnap..."_

"_You don't understand anything!"_

"_Do you understand now?"_

**DISCOVERY**

Another training session without Tia and nothing had changed with Rocket, well excepted from the fact that he was playing worse. He playing on the field was below poorly, in fact it didn't seem he was bothering to play at all and nothing could seem to get through to him. Aarch didn't know what to do; it wasn't like he could take his nephew off the team, especially with the next cup just in two days. There was no way they could find someone to replace him in time. The other bad news was that Dame Simbai had just informed Aarch that Ahito was too weak to play at the moment and would have to miss the first match. Aarch wondered if he should try talking to Rocket again but shook the idea from his head because he had a feeling that he would get a similar reaction to last night. He considered his best option to get one of the Snow Kids or all of them to talk to his nephew. Then he thought if he wouldn't talk to him then why would he talk to his teammates. Still it was better than nothing; they were all friends after all. He waited for the training session to finish before he made up some excuse to hold D'jok back. Waiting for the rest of the Snow Kids and the rest of the staff to disappear first before he turned his attention back to D'jok

"D'jok, I need you to try and talk to Rocket, he won't listen to me." Aarch asked the young lad that stood in front of him. D'jok had no idea why he had been picked, he was probably one of the last people Rocket wanted to talk to but he agreed anyway. He had to at least try for the sake of the team. Thinking it would be better if he got the whole team to comfort him instead of just going alone. As soon as he left his uncles presence he gathered up the team together, then they made their way over to Rockets room.

"Do you think this will work D'jok?" Micro-Ice asked his best friend nervously. No one but Micro-Ice, Yuki and Thran knew what the meeting had been like between Rocket and his uncle. They hadn't meant to eavesdrop on the conversation but Thran had left his jumper in the training room and they had turned back to collect it when they heard the argument. Honestly, all three of them were a little scared to confront Rocket but they knew they had to for the sake of the team and for Rockets own good.

"I don't know Micro-Ice but we have to at least give it a try." D'jok answered his small friend with a determined expression in his face. When they approach Rocket's room all of the Snow Kids held their breath when D'jok knocked on the door.

She stared at the bare grey walls around her. The voices that used to always ask questions about what she was doing here began to slowly disappear and be replace by one thing; Netherball. It was the only thing that made her feel good. When she was here in her room or getting a health check by one of those silly doctors that kept asking her the same questions and trying out the same things, she felt sick and weak but when she played Netherball she felt alive and powerful. A sharp pain hit her hard in the stomach. Damn it! The girl thought, it was the third time today that happen, the only thing that made the pain ago away was when she was playing Netherball. Swiping the sweat off her head (despite the fact that the room was freezing) it was horrible to wait around for the next match. She couldn't wait to play Netherball tonight. She wondered who she was going to play against; hopefully he or she would be a tougher opponent, so she could truly show how good she was.

Artie was at a total loss. He wanted to be out there, helping the pirates search for Tia, who had become like the sister he had always wanted. They had kept in touch over the years after Tia joined the pirates for a short time to save her parents from a Technoid prison. To be honest he blamed himself for being stuck here, cleaning dishes in this stupid cafe instead of helping the pirates search for Tia. He had gotten into trouble a few weeks ago with Corso so this was his punishment. Sometimes he missed the old pirate's life, the adventure and the excitement; it was the only thing Artie had known ever since he was a kid, not cleaning dishes it a little cafe. Sighing to himself, he shook his head to get rid of his silly thoughts. This was his new life now, besides it wasn't that bad but it would have been a whole lot better if...

"Artie! Hurry up; you were supposed to be finished with them half an hour ago!" The robot shouted through the curtain in the wall that link the kitchen and the front of the cafe together.

"Since when was a person giving a specific time to finish washing dishes." Artie snapped back, he really hated that robot. He honestly didn't know who would employ that robot to work in a cafe or anywhere that was food related; seriously that robot was a menace to society because no matter how good the taste buds are on that piece of tin, the food was the most disgusting stuff you would ever taste.

"Since I am your boss and I'll make sure Corso keeps you here for the rest of your life." The robot argued back before disappearing again. An icy chill went down Artie's spine at the very thought of working here for the rest of his life. Finishing off the dish he was washing he quickly followed the robot out of the kitchen. Artie grabbed and tray and began going around the tables to collected the empty dishes and plates on the tables. He quickly looked up to the crowd of people sitting around the stage and laughing at the comedian robot that was telling a few jokes that Artie didn't really find funny. He sighed to himself as he shifted in and out of the tabled to collect the rubbish and empty cups on them; he was just doing the last table when he heard muttering behind him.

"I told you she's the greatest!" A ex-Wamba's player yelled happily at his friend and stuff another burger in his mouth (the Wamba kind not the normal kind) while his friend just sat opposite him with his arms cross and his face in a frown.

"Yeah, well we'll see how well she handles tonight." His skinny friend replied. Artie was only partly paying attention, since he was trying to get out of his Pirate ways.

"Well I bet you twenty credits that Tia's going to kick whoever's butt tonight." The fat Wamba shouted out, turning Artie's full Pirate senses on alert. The skinny Wamba launched across the table and slapped his hand over his friend's mouth.

"Keep quiet will you, we don't want anyone to overhear." He hissed at his friend and sent an evil glare towards Artie, who pretended not to take interest and continued to clean tables. Could they possibly mean the Tia I know? Artie wondered to himself. No, it couldn't be. Tia had been kidnapped, why would two random Wamba's be talking about her like she was competing in something. Maybe they didn't know that Tia had disappeared from the Snow Kids but they were talking about seeing her tonight. He wasn't sure but his gut feeling told him to go with his line of thoughts for now; until he was sure that it wasn't really Tia he knew that the two Wamba's were talking about. He took another glimpse at the two Wamba's that were now talking quietly, he was sure that he recognised those two Wamba's from somewhere before but he couldn't put his finger on it. Artie walked away from the two Wamba's and placed his stuff on the counter but his eyes never left the two to ex-football players that still sat at the table. When it was nearly midnight the two Wamba's finally got up and left but what they didn't know was that Artie was following them close behind in the shadows.

Rocket sat on his bed surrounded by the whole team. They had just spent the last five minutes trying to convince Rocket to pull his act together for the cup. He couldn't believe it, Tia was gone and all they could think about was the cup. First his uncle now their friends, what's next her own parents?

"So what am I suppose to do? Just sit back while Tia's still out there somewhere." He demanded from his teammates quite loudly, all of the Snow Kids looked at each other for an answer to Rockets question but no one seemed to know what to say until Mei stepped forward.

"This hasn't been easier for any of us Rocket." Mei stated firmly towards Rocket with a stubborn stare that could match Rockets father's stubbornness any day. "Do you think it was easy for Tia when you left, thinking the worst of what happened to you. But she stayed strong for us and had faith that you would return." All of the Snow Kids nodded in agreement with Mei, even though Tia hadn't started off well herself when Rocket first disappeared, she pulled herself together in the end. What Mei said hit Rocket hard. Hearing what Mei said he finally understood how Tia felt when he had disappeared. Now Rocket felt even guiltier not only for letting Tia down but his uncle and friends down to.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Rocket muttered, after a while of thinking. The tension in the room seemed to decrease dramatically. It seemed through everything bad that was going on at the moment, it was slowly (painfully slowly) getting better again. The whole team surrounded Rocket and gave him pats on the back for encouragement and mumble stuff like he was only human and we all make mistakes.

She was still lying in her bed and staring at the wall, since she didn't really have anything better to do when bright light entered the room.

"Time to play Netherball again my dear." Harris announced with his young assistant next to him. A huge smile spread across her face. Finally! She thought to herself, as she jumped off of the bed and followed the two men to the Netherball stadium that lay just at the end of the hall. The place seemed to be tormenting her, since the hall seemed to be going on forever until she saw the light up ahead. Walking through it she saw that the crowd had grown larger and the echo of thundering voices roared louder through the room. Her smile grew into a large grin as she made her way towards the Sphere in the centre of the room. When she walked to the robot referee and saw no one was waiting for her. She couldn't bear to stand here and face no opponent, so she decided to enter the sphere and stay in there for a bit.

The two ex-Wamba's players enter the stadium and made their way to their usual spot on the upper level, so they had a good look at the screens, not noticing that Artie had slipped in behind them and hid behind one of the pillars. When he first entered the place his felt his jaw hit the floor. He couldn't believe it; he thought this place had been destroyed four years ago when Rocket lost to Tia and a big fight had erupted through the area, destroying everything. He looked up at the screens to see no one was in them yet. He hated waiting, especially in this place, it gave him the creeps. Suddenly, the crowd's cheers grew louder. He turned to see a small figure walking towards the centre of the room but couldn't make out who it was, until they entered the sphere.

"Tia!" Artie cried out, forgetting where he was and that he was meant to be silent, even though it probably didn't matter since it was too noise to hear anything at the moment with the crowd chanting Tia's name. He couldn't believe it. His gut instinct had told him to follow the two Wamba's down here just to eliminate the possibility of where to find her but he was not expecting this. Tia was playing in the Sphere. Something didn't feel right. Artie watched the screens with Tia walking around the Sphere, the way she was walking wasn't her usual shy, calm walk, it was tense and aggressive. His stomach turned upside down when the screen got a close up of her face, so he could see it better. She looked sick; really sick. Her usually creamy complexion was a pale with bags hanging from her eyes. She also looked like she hadn't eaten in days, since he thought he could see some of the bones in her face. Despite her appearance, no one but him seemed to care that she looked like she was ready to die any second. "Tia what the hell happened to you?" Artie whispered to himself, as he watched.

Where the hell was her opponent? She thought angrily to herself. She was pumped, she was excited and she was ready to draw blood. The tension of waiting to play was starting to get to her. She wanted to play so bad; it was the only thing that made her feel good. Anger burned through her body at whoever she was suppose to be waiting for tonight. Why couldn't they hurry up? She didn't want to be sent back to her room again and be forced to wait another day. She wanted to play now. Her wish came true when the door to the Sphere opened and a huge metal figure walked into the room. About time! She thought, as the two players took the positions.

"I'm going to finish you." The Rykers player smirked. An evil grin appeared on her face at that moment. We'll see who's the one getting finish, she smiled inwardly to herself, as the ball appeared between both of them.


	5. TRAPPED

**THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to Lauren who helped me write this chapter because my brains have just been blank lately (and I thought I had bad writers block before) so here it is (finally) chapter 5. Enjoy :) **

**I do not own Galactik Football**

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_"D'jok, I need you to try and talk to Rocket, he won't listen to me."_

_"I told you she's the greatest!"_

_"You're right, I'm sorry."_

_"Time to play Netherball again my dear."_

_"I'm going to finish you."_

**TRAPPED**

I couldn't help but feel the room was a bit smaller then it usually did, it was possibly because of six foot metal screamer that stood staring down at her with a slightly evil smirk on her face. She only smiled back, hoping this new challenge would be better than the last one. She knew she wouldn't be able to use as much body contact like she used with the other guy, since this person was made of metal and would probably be painful to slam into. A sudden buzz announced the beginning of the match. When the ball appeared she immediately took control of the game knowing if she wanted to stay in control she had to always be one step ahead. Dodging an arm that came flying at her head, she sprang around dribbling the ball towards the goal and kicked it, sending it into the hole. She turned around to throw a smirk at the metal monster who was sending her death looks. Still smiling she returned to her spot facing an angry football player. Now it was personal. The ball appeared again. The metal person threw what looked like a punch at her face, forcing her to step back and lose the ball and give the ball control to the other player. She was furious that she fell for such a cheap trick when she noticed the punch was a lazy one. As the adrenaline pumped through her body she raced after her, a sudden idea came into her head. Jumping towards the monster she placed her leg out so she could push herself off the wall and aim a kick at the other players back with such force that it made the person fall over. She quickly grabbed the ball away and kicked it on the other side of the room, aiming it at the hole, which earned her another goal. A huge smile grew on her face.

Meanwhile, Artie was staring wide eyed at the huge screen with his mouth hanging wide open. He knew the girl looked like Tia but now he was starting to have doubts. This player was so violent, Tia was the complete opposite; she could never hurt a fly.

Thran sat in his bed playing a new computer game he had just brought with his cousin Yuki. He was glad she had suggested it because she was getting annoyed about how depressed he was getting without having his brother with him. But a sudden knock on the door broke his concentration long enough for Yuki's avatar to kick his character in the head and knock him out, meaning Yuki was the winner. His mouth dropped open in shock (since it was very rare for anyone to beat him in computer games) before shouting for the person who had just knocked to come in. The door opened to reveal a smiling Dame Simbai and a grinning Ahito.

"Ahito!" Yuki and Thran both shouted when they lunged themselves on top of Ahito and were rolling around laughter. It looks like things are starting to get better, Thran thought to himself when they siblings had managed to stop laughing and get themselves off the floor. But for how long, a little voice that Thran would preferred not to hear asked.

Realising that Sonny mustn't know of Netherball's return and that this was Tia's whereabouts or else he'd have told him, at least he thought. Shaking his head and thinking of the importance of the situation Artie began to call Sonny but was interrupted when two men came up behind him; two giant men.

"Drop the device and slowly and come with us; quietly" one of the men said and Artie froze. There were some disadvantages to being a Pirate; like everyone involved with Technoid knowing who you were! Slowly, Artie put down his watch phone and at a snail's pace began to walk with one of the men in front of him and the other behind and there was no chance to escape through the sides since the crowd was blocking him off. Before exiting the main room he took one last glance at the screen to reveal that Tia had just scored another goal against Kernor and the metal monster was furious. But since there was one more minute left, he knew Tia would be playing again tomorrow as well as destroying another little piece of herself she seemed to have and hopefully by then; he would have escaped…

The score was 3-0 but Tia knew she could do much better and she was going to prove it whether there was only a minute left or not. She could tell her opponent was furious but even she knew she already had this game in the bag but Tia didn't want it to end. She loved playing Netherball. She loved the adrenaline, the power, the control…everything. When she wasn't playing Netherball, she felt weak and useless but when she was here, she felt like she could do anything. It didn't take her long to realise that she needed Netherball and not anything else or anyone. Taking in the power and adrenaline, Tia was the first to grab the ball with her foot as it appeared in front of them and decided to have a bit of fun since there wasn't much more time left. She dribbled the ball from foot to foot while her opponent tried to get it off her but failed miserably. Tia suddenly dribbled the ball around her opponent and shoved them slightly so she could score amazingly without any knocks or disturbances. Her opponent fell back and Tia popped the ball onto her foot before flinging it in the air, twirling round and kicking it straight into the hole, ending the match. A smirk spread across her face at the thrill of winning again and crushing her opponent's pride. With an even bigger smile on her face, she walked towards her opponent who was giving her a death glare but that only made her smile more.

'Hard luck Tin-can. Looks like you'll need a bit more skill to beat me; in fact a lot more' she said sarcastically before leaving the Sphere and was quickly surrounded by the roaring crowd, screaming her name.

All of the Snow Kids were gathered in the meeting room while Aarch was giving a prep talk. Everyone was glad to see that Rocket had pulled himself together for both the team and Tia but underneath it all, he was still grieving which was understandable. After a while, he had finally finished with the whole team but he wanted to speak with Rocket so he called him over.

'Rocket there's something that's been troubling me quite a bit and I wanted to ask you about it. Before Tia was kidnapped…do you have any idea what kind of a state she was in? Was she happy? Upset?' Aarch wondered aloud and Rocket didn't know how to answer. It was his fault he didn't know because he brushed her off which is how Rocket figured that she must have been upset because of him and that thought made him hate himself even more. Before Rocket could answer, someone came out from behind and answered for him.

'It doesn't matter what state she was in, what matters is that we get her back,' someone said and they turned to find Sonny approaching them.

'Sonny,' Rocket said, surprised. Rocket could tell by his expression that something was wrong and Rocket hoped that it had nothing to do with Tia or else he'd never forgive himself. 'What's going on?' he asked worriedly.

'Nothing to do with Tia Rocket, I promise but we think something's happened to Artie. He was meant to be helping out at the pirate cafe but left muttering something like he had heard something about Tia but we haven't seen him in a while and we can't get in touch with him. And we suspect he knows where Tia is. We're not sure though of what happened but all we know is that we now have two people to find,' Sonny admitted to them decreasing Rocket's hope of finding Tia even further, he had grown to like Artie as well, since Tia had gone to rescue her parents and became close to him. At first he was a little jealous but he soon saw the relationship was more sibling then lover. Shaking his head from these depressing thoughts Rocket refused to listen anymore and didn't want to hear any more bad news so he stormed off to his bedroom and ignored the requests for him to come back, who was yelling for him he didn't know. Rocket began taking deep breaths as he started pacing around the room with clear visions of Tia in his head. He knew she was somewhere but he had to discover where only how he was going to do that he didn't know. All he could was hope was that she was thinking of him and every moment they shared and that that was somehow giving her strength to wait for someone to save her…

Tia was sitting on the bed, shaking her leg as she impatiently waited to play Netherball again. She was only back from it for about an hour but it seemed like forever to Tia. She still couldn't remember any memories from before Netherball but she didn't care. She didn't care about anyone or anything except Netherball. If there was anyone or anything that she was supposed to remember from before Netherball, she knew that they mustn't have been important if she didn't remember them. Only, a part of her believed that there was someone she was supposed to remember or even try to remember but she kept brushing that away thinking, 'If they were important, I would remember them!' However, that didn't stop the thought jumping into her head a number of times.

After calming down and pulling himself together, Rocket made his way over to the training room where the team would have their last training session before facing the Rykers tomorrow. Everyone was there even Ahito, who had made a sudden recovery and seemed ok to playbut as he took another look around the room he saw that his uncle had still not appeared. Must be running a bit late, he convinced himself while he sat on the end of the bench. But a few minutes later he was surprised to see Clamp and Dame Simbai walk in but not Aarch.

"Ok kids into the holo-trainer." Clamp order, as he and Dame Simbai took their stations. All of the Snow Kids looked at each other with confused looks on their faces, it wasn't the first time they had a training session without Aarch but it was very rare and he would at least give the Snow Kids some warning.

"Where's Aarch?" Mei asked, reflecting what everyone in the room was thinking.

"Just got a call from Aduim, apparently the league wants to discuss something about the line up." Clamp answered, all of the worried faces in the room turned into confused ones. Why would the league want to talk about the line up; especially this close to the cup? The Snow Kids thoughts were broken when Clamp ushered them in to the holo-trainer and programmed the opposing team to be the Rykers. This didn't surprise the Snow Kids, since they had the match against them Rykers tomorrow and it was best to be prepared against them then not at all. All of the Snow Kids took their positions on the field, while Yuki sat on the bench and watched. I wish I could have a go playing on the field again, Yuki thought as she watched an excited Ahito jump around crazily between his goal posts. She wasn't usually that bothered because she knew sooner or later she would swap with Ahito but she loved it more when she got to practice full time instead of part time. Still, she was glad to see her cousin looking healthy and having fun again. But there was something in the back of her head that was telling her that something was wrong, she thought Ahito's recovery had been a bit to quick. Pushing the thoughts to the back of her head she watched as the ball appeared in the middle of the field and D'jok jumped up on to the clones metal knee and headed it towards Rocket who then past to Mark. He almost had the ball taken off him but he kicked it towards Micro-Ice, who then dodged two Rykers and kicked it into the goal. Yay! Go Micro-Ice, Yuki cheered silently for her boyfriend (making her wish she was playing even more) as she watched the Snow Kids do a small victory dance around him. After Clamp had a go at them to return to their places the Snow Kids began to train again and after ten minutes had scored another goal. Now one of the Rykers had the ball and somehow managed to pass through Mei's and Thran defences and kicked the ball towards the goal but this attempt to score was deflected by Ahito, who caught the ball using his famous swinging monkey. Yuki did another silent cheer for her cousin but her happy thoughts were broken when she saw the horrible look on his face. Suddenly, Yuki watched in horror as her cousin fell from the top of the goal and slammed hard on to the ground. Immediately, Ahito was surrounded by his brother and the other Snow Kids as they attempted to try and wake him up but with no success. Oh my God, Yuki cried, as she watched her dear cousin being carried out of the training room.

"Please, please tell me have something; anything." Sonny moaned, as he threw himself in to the closet chair. He had just come back for the hotel the Snow Kids were staying at to see if Artie might have mentioned where he was going to Rocket but judging the young players reaction, it was obvious that he didn't know. Corso span around in the chair to face Sonny and gave him a sad nod.

"Sorry Sonny but Artie was the best when it came to hacking into cameras, it's going to take me twice as long." He admitted shamefully, he blamed himself for Artie's disappearance since he had place Artie on cleaner duty. But Sonny was feeling the worse out of all of them, he had promised everyone he would find Tia but they had nothing and their only lead had disappeared off the face of the planet; which wasn't good. It was hard to capture a pirate which made Sonny wonder. What were they up against?


	6. THE TORNAMENT BEGINS

**Hey! Uuuuummmmmmm I kind of screwed up in the last chapter, so if you haven't read the new uploaded chapter 5 then I suggest you do it now, otherwise this chapter will just sound confusing. It's also quite a short chapter compared with the rest but anyway... Enjoy! :)**

**I do not own Galactik Football**

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_"Drop the device and slowly and come with us; quietly"_

_'Hard luck Tin-can. Looks like you'll need a bit more skill to beat me; in fact a lot more'_

_'Nothing to do with Tia Rocket, I promise but we think something's happened to Artie.'_

_"Where's Aarch?"_

_"Please, please tell me have something; anything."_

**THE TORNAMENT BEGINS**

Aarch was facing two new dilemmas: one was that he got a call from the league calling for an urgent meeting with all the coaches of the football teams (which he was now waiting outside the office for with all the other coaches) secondly, he just got a call from Dame Simbai saying Ahito's illness had returned (yet again) and that he was in critical condition. He couldn't believe all the bad luck he and the team was suffering just a few days before the cup: first Tia and now Ahito and then Ahito again. The list of problems just seemed to be getting longer and longer and there was nothing he could do to stop it, how the hell were they going to win the cup for a third time with all these disasters popping out of the shadows in every corner?

"You ok Aarch?" Artegor asked, noticing that his best friend was unusually tense and quiet. Before Aarch could answer he saw Aduim and the other league board members came into the room.

"Gentlemen, Ladies, if you would follow us into the meeting room." Aduim asked, acting all professional. He and Artegor had to use all their might not to start laughing because they thought it was funny how Aduim tried to act all business like but if anyone actually knew her then they would know she was the complete opposite. Sure she had matured a little but that didn't stop her getting up on the table every time she got drunk. But they held themselves together and calmly followed the other coaches into the meeting room and sat around the long table.

"Right gentlemen, we have called you hear to discuss the demolishment of football players, switching their flux war...

She couldn't believe what was happening; Ahito's mysterious illness had reappeared and according to Dame Simbai it was worse than before and it was all her fault. Honestly, she hadn't meant for it to happen; she just wanted to play and see knew she should of said something about Ahito joining training agains so soon. Well, they always say be careful what you wish for. An impatient knock from the door broke Yuki's depressing thoughts.

"Yuki are you in there?" Thrans concerned voice shouted through the door. No not now, Yuki cried desperately and threw the covers over her head. She didn't want them to see her like this; she wasn't use to people seeing her coming. Hopefully, if she stayed quiet they would leave. However, the silence didn't stop Micro-Ice and Thran from coming into the room. "Yuki! Why are you hiding under the covers?" Thran cried out when he saw movement under the blue duvets. Slowly, the duvet cover began to roll back to show a tear faced Yuki sibling underneath it. Both her cousin and boyfriend ran to her instantly, it was very rare to see Yuki cry; in fact none of them had ever seen her cry at all.

"Thran! I'm so sorry!" She suddenly cried out, hugging her cousin and sobbing into his shoulder. Thran shot Micro-Ice a weird look but he only shrugged his shoulders back at him.

"Why are you sorry Yuki?" He questioned, utterly confused on how events of today had turned out. Once again his brothers illness had come back, turning the whole chance of the Snow Kids chance of winning the cup seem less impossible. But they still had a good chance with Yuki in goal. Nevertheless he had faith in his twin brother to pull through; even if it was ten times worse than before. It took Thran and Micro-Ice twenty minutes to calm Yuki down and allow her to explain herself.

"I was thinking how much I missed playing on the field with you guys and would have loved to play with you again and then suddenly Ahito illness reappeared. It can't be just coincidence." She moaned, crying even more. But Thran was having none of it. Grabbing his younger cousin firmly by her shoulders he made her sit up and looked him directly into his dark eyes.

"Yuki did you intend for Ahito's illness to return?" He asked his spiky hair cousin. She looked at him with teary blood-shot, trying to take into account what Thran had just said to her.

"No!" She cried out in outrage to even think she would want something like that to happen to Ahito.

"So why are you blaming yourself? I bet you always on the bench wishing you could play with us." He smiled, as he watched his young cousin think through what he had just said while Micro-ice back and let the two family members sought the situation out. Yuki sat and wondered about what Thran had said to her, it was true she and Mark were always on the bench wanting to play with the team but she still felt slightly guilty; but not as much as before. Micro-Ice could understand why she was feeling like this; everyone was in shock about what had been happening to the team lately and the stress of the upcoming cup. Hopefully, the team will be able to pull themselves together before their first match; especially Yuki and Rocket.

"It's a tie." Aduim announced when she read off the results of the vote that had just taken place. What? Aarch shouted to himself but didn't voice his opinion out loud. They had spent the last half an hour debating with each other if players from different planets should be stopped. Aarch had listen respectfully to the other coaches' opinions but he thought it was just too dangerous. Take himself and Artegor, they had nearly died of on flux poisoning when they had the smog flux and he had seen the same symptoms in former Snow Kids player Sinedd lately. His friend Artegor had also seen the effects but Sinedd would not listen to Artegors words of warning.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, since we cannot come to an agreement, will arrange another meeting about this but after the cup." Aduim announced, causing mumbles of annoyance to pass through the row of men and woman sitting around the large meeting table. Only Artegor and Aarch were the silent ones in the room, swapping quick silent glances but saying nothing more. They knew each other long enough to know what the other person is thinking or feeling. Something bad was going to happen.

Mei and D'jok were walking down the streets of Genesis, disguising themselves with sunglasses (Mei had managed to convince D'jok to wear a hat on to cover his bright red hair) thankfully no one had recognise them so far. They thought it would be a good idea to get away from the tension, building up back at the hotel.

"I don't like this." Mei suddenly commented, as they past the hundredth dress shop and didn't even take a look at everything in the windows, which D'jok had come to know over the years that Mei was depressed about something.

"Don't like what?" He questioned, there were so many disasters from this week she was going to have to be more specific.

"Everything but most of all not being able to tell anyone that we're getting married." She stated grumpily. Looking around to see no one was looking he pulled her into an alleyway and kissed her full on the lips, it was a simple kiss but it was full of passion. When he leant back he saw her breathing heavily and smiling a little.

"Look," He began (he kissed her to soften her up before he made a long speech) trying to sound serious and placed his forehead against hers. "I know this must be hard for you but with everything going on I don't think it's a good idea and I stick with my decision to tell everyone after the cup." He heard his girlfriend sigh loudly but she nodded a little. After a small make out session in the dark they made their way back to the hotel, trying to cheer the atmosphere up they talked about normal stuff and not anything to do with football. They soon arrived back at the hotel and D'jok dropped her off in front of her room but Mei had other ideas.

"So you nervous about tomorrow?" She asked, wrapping her arms around his waist, so he couldn't escape just yet.

"A little but I'm sure we're do fine, a little stress though." He smiled back when he recognised the mischievous glint in her eye, draping his arms around her and pulling her close to him.

"Well I know a way to release that stress if you're interested." She whispered seductively into his ear before she began kissing his neck and started playing with his shirt. D'jok happily followed her into her room, trying to undo her trousers in the process.

Rocket had been searching all over Genesis in vain. He knew the Pirates were looking for Tia (and also Artie) but sitting around doing nothing finally drove him over the edge. But over three hours of searching he had come up with two conclusions: one was that he was a crap private detective and second, he was no closer to finding Tia. What did I except? Rocket thought as he dragged his heavy and tired feet through the silent hallways of the hotel. Was I meant to bump into Tia herself or just some random bloke who shouted out 'hey I know where your girlfriend is' shaking his head of his silly ideas, his thoughts slowly turned to the football match that they were meant to be having tomorrow against the Rykers. He didn't know how he was going to play a match without Tia by his side but he knew he somehow had to find the strength to carry himself and the team through the next few weeks; especially now that Ahito's illness had return they needed to pull together no more than ever. Rocket was so deep in thought that he hadn't realised he had collided with someone; until it was too late. Both people fell to the floor, causing a loud crash to echo through the hallway. Surprisingly it had not woken anyone up.

"Sorry." Rocket mumble, as he pushed himself off the floor.

"No it was my fault, I wasn't looking were I was going." The familiar voice spoke. Looking up, Rocket saw a red face D'jok with no shirt, messy hair and was trying his hardest to hold his trousers up. Rocket tried desperately to hide the smirk but it was no use since he could feel both corners of his mouth moving upwards.

"You and Mei have a good time." Rocket tried to joke and watched as D'joks face turned brighter. To be honest he didn't understand why his fellow team mate seemed embarrass, since he and Tia had walked in one Mei and D'jok making love with each other (it didn't really help that Tia and Mei shared the same room, which was why Rocket was thankful he had his own room) thinking of Tia, Rocket felt his heart crash to the floor but tried to hide it from D'jok.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" D'jok smirked, getting over the embarrassing moment. Rocket smiled back and wished D'jok good night; D'jok did the same. Rocket was thankful with relief when he finally reached his hotel room and collapsed on the floor. Get a grip Rocket, he forced himself to think, as he pushed himself off the floor and got himself ready for bed. Clasping on the bed he tried to sleep but despite the protests of his body his brain would not co-operate. This is going to be a long night, he thought silently. Despite his sensible side telling him not to look, he slowly turned his head to the picture with him and Tia that lay on his bedside table. A single tear dropped down his face before he finally fell asleep.

Corso was working over time trying to figure out who the hell Artie could be so good at this. It was really hard stuff and Corso didn't really take Artie as the genius type. Maybe the young pirate just had a nack for cracking codes and passing firewalls, he didn't honestly know.

"Anything Corso?" Sonny questioned, sitting down and removing his goggles and hood.

"I've made some process. The security cameras I've hacked into show Artie following to ex-wambas but I still can't find out where they went. What are you doing back so early? I thought you were visiting D'jok." Corso had finished explaining and was now waiting to know why Sonny was back so soon; he thought his friend would be gone for a little while, Sonny hardly ever saw his son. A small smirk spread across Sonny's face.

"Let's just say he was a bit pre-occupied." He shrugged making Corso almost full off his seat with laughter.


	7. FIRST MATCH

**I do not own galactic football**

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_"Right gentlemen, we have called you hear to discuss the demolishment of football players, switching their flux war..._

_"Thran! I'm so sorry!"_

_"Everything but most of all not being able to tell anyone that we're getting married."_

_"You and Mei have a good time."_

_"Anything Corso?"_

**FIRST MATCH**

The day had finally arrived. The first match for the galactik football cup had come. The Snow Kids versus the Rykers; they were not ready. Most of the team was in shambles. Aarch had known them all long enough to recognise some of the signs: Rocket was retiring his shoe laces for the third time, Thran kept messing up his hair every time he finished a warm up and Yuki just had a grim look on her face – which was highly unusual. The other players seemed ok but they could not help but notice their teammate's strange behaviour as well.

"Ok Snow Kids, listen up!" He bellowed over the chat in the room. All of the football players turned to their coach to listen what he had to say. "I know the past week had been rough on all of us but I'm asking you to have your mind only on the match, put everything behind and just have fun." This seemed to cheer some of the Snow Kids up but Rocket still had a bit of gloom written on his face; though not as much. Aarch nodded to all of them with a smile before leaving the room to get ready at his station.

"Hey do you want a drink?" D'jok asked his girlfriend, wanting to get away from the tension in the room for just a little while.

"Sure I would love one." She smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek. Grinning like a fool, D'jok quickly left the training room and stepped around the corner where the vending machine was. As soon as he turned around with two drinks in his hand he bumped straight into his dad.

"Aagghhh!" D'jok shouted, startled at first until he released who was. "Dad seriously you have got to stop doing that." He tried to sound serious but a small smile still spread across his face. Despite everything that was going on he was glad to see his father. His father only laughed at his son reaction before they both embraced each other.

"I just wanted to say good luck before you went on and I'll be cheering for you in the stands." Sonny smiled. They talked for a few minutes, trying to catch up on what they've missed, before Sonny gave his son one last hug.

"Dad, why didn't you come and see me yesterday? Surely it would of been easier than doing it short notice." D'jok asked he raised an eyebrow when a huge smirk spread across his father's face and then laughed; making D'jok even more confused than before.

"Well I tried but you were a little busy with Mei." Sonny answered, unable to control his laughter when he still saw the confused expression still on his son's face deepen. It took D'jok a few moments to remember what his father was talking about; making him turn about fifty shades of red that were brighter than his hair – which is kind of an accomplishment for him. This made Sonny laugh even harder than before. Clasping his son on the shoulder, Sonny decided it was about time that D'jok made his way back to his teammates but before he left he added one more thing. "Oh and congratulations for finally proposing to Mei, it was very romantic." Sonny joked as he sped off around the corner, leaving D'jok still frozen to his spot. D'jok had been staring at thin air for the past few moments before reality came back to him.

"Sonny Blackbones! You get your butt back here this instant." D'jok demanded as he followed his dad around the corner; only to discover he was gone. Mumbling curses about stupid pirate habits, D'jok made his way back to his changing room, where his team mates and girlfriend where probably wondering where he disappeared to. Sonny was hiding in the shadows still, trying to calm himself down before he joined Corso again. Once he had joined up with Corso, they snuck in to a small corner of the stadium to watch the match. Duke Maddox had offered them to come and with sit with him but they didn't want a repeat of the last cup. The stadium was almost silent until Callie Mystic's voice shouted out from the speakers and over the field.

"_AND HERE COME THE SNOW KIDS!"_

Harris was getting more and more excited with each passing day. Soon he will have enough flux to make the whole world bow to him. However, he still had a problem; the Pirates. He knew they wouldn't give up so easily even if he had the most powerful device on his side. If he was going to beat them he needed to strike where it hurt the most, Sonny was the most obvious one; he planned to get to Sonny through D'jok. However, the other pirates were going to be a little harder. Thankfully, he had one of them locked up in the other room.

"You wanted to see me sir." Harris' young assistant called out behind him. He was the typical nerd, with a rash of freckles covering his face, huge glasses that looked like he had two mini televisions on his face and the infamous ability to not be able to look at a person (that was bigger than them in some way) in the eye without having a break down but when it came down to brilliance; this guy was at the top of the list.

"Ah Mike my dear fellow, how is our little petal doing?" He mused, spinning around in the seat he was leaning back around to face his newest assistant. As always the young lab assistant instantly looked down at his paper to avoid eye contact, making it nearly impossible for Harris to hear but thankfully -after years of working for Duke Maddox- he had developed super hearing.

"Well the mind control bug we put on her is working very well but I am worried about her physical health sir." The young assistant mumbled as he re-read his charts for the third time, so he looked like he was doing something. "I think for her own safety we should let her skip the next match to let..." The assistant jumped when Harris slammed his fist on the table next to him, knocking over a cup of tea that he had never finished drinking. Mike was too scared to look up from his paperwork.

"She will keep playing understand! You have a brain; find some drug or something that can make her feel better!" Harris roared at the small intern; his words shocked the other scientists in the next room. All of a sudden he seemed to return back to his calm posture and sat back in his chair. "What news do you have of our captive pirate?" Harris questioned, forgetting what had just happen seconds ago. Harris had been trying to get information about the pirates out of the naive pirate but so far, the teenage rebel had been proving... difficult. Shaking a little, the young scientist gave his report.

"He still refuses to say anything sir." He answered. Not hearing his boss say anything, the young man took a daring glance up to see Harris pondering in his chair over what to do.

"Tell the boys to go extra hard on him." Harris smirked. Mike just nodded to the man in the purple coat and left quickly as possible.

The Snow Kids stepped nervously on to the pitch. Despite stepping on to this field a million times, all of the Snow Kids still couldn't help but wonder at the stadium around them. Their elevator stopped in front of the Rykers, who looked tall and menacing. As the Snow Kids lined up in front of the large metal screamers they began to perform their dance –trying to scared the Snow Kids before the match even started- at the end they release a massive flux wave of their flux; the Metal Scream. After that little performance, the Snow Kids made their way into their positions. They all looked at each other nervously but they still all smiled (except Rocket) and ready themselves for the match. Callie Mystic was doing her best to shout of the crowd,

"_This will be an exciting match; this will be the third year the Snow Kids are trying to win the Galactik Football Cup. What do you think Nork." _

"_I don't know Callie they proved us wrong last year, who knows what could happen."_

While this was happening, D'jok was standing in front of one of the other Rykers players, waiting for the buzzer to announce the start of the match.

"_Let the match begin" _Callie cried out just before the buzzer went off. As the ball shot into the air, D'jok this moment to jump on to the other players metal leg and headed the ball towards Mark who dribbled past to Rykers before passing the ball towards Micro-Ice who tried to score a goal but it was caught by Kernor.

"Oh man!" Micro-Ice cursed. Kernor laughed, as she juggled the ball in her hand and using her flux, sent it flying past Micro-Ices head; paralysing the Snow Kids player on the spot. In the mean time an Rykers player had taken control of the match and were dribbling their way closer and closer to the other goal. The Snow Kids tried to stop them but they were just pushed out of the way when they got close. Just as the Rykers player was about to make a goal Mei slide tackled the ball out of the way and quickly passed it back to Mark. Mark shot Mei an thumbs up before running off with the ball. Smiling back, Mei made her way back to her position, only to be smacked in the shoulder and was nearly knocked over by the Rykers player she had stolen the ball from.

"_Hey what was that for!" _Callie voice shouted out over the stadium since she had seen the exchange between the two players. There were some boos when the indicant was reply on the screen. D'jok saw this and anger raged through him; that looked like it really hurt.

"Is she ok Simbai?" Aarch asked in the booth they were stationed in, hoping that she had not been injured badly in anyway. Simbai typed away at her board to check the defenders progress.

"She's a little banged up but she can still play." Dame Simbai responded, sighs of relief spread through the room. Meanwhile, the game still continued on the pitch. D'jok had the ball and was about to be tackled by a Rykers player but he managed to pass it to Rocket just in time. However, Rocket was having a bit of trouble getting his mind straight and had the ball easily stolen off him.

"Rocket! Get your head in the game!" His uncle shouted at him through the head phones. Rocket growled in frustration and ran back after the ball. But the Rykers player had already got a head start from him and had already passed the ball to another team member and were now making their way towards the Snow Kids goal again. Every time a Snow Kid tried to stop the advance the Rykers would somehow slip through their grasp or passed to another player. Yuki could see the ball coming closer and closer towards her at incredible speed. Pull yourself together Yuki, she told herself, rolling her shoulders back a few times to try and relax herself. Her eyes were always focused on the ball (there was no way she was going to have a repeat of her first match last time when the Wambas slipped the ball past her) determination shone out of her dark eyes. One of the Rykers attackers managed to somehow dodge Thran. Yuki's last defence was Mei who was running up to the Rykers to face. But what Yuki didn't take into account was that this was the same attacker that Mei had tackled last time, for the Rykers player; it was time for revenge. Once Mei was in reach the attacking player roughly pushed Mei done and ran over her.

"_Hey where's the referee?!" _Callie shouted when no red card was called. Yuki gasped at the scene she had just witness and was more determined than ever to not let a single ball past the white line by her feet. The attacking player proceeded towards the goal. Summoning her flux, the Ryker player jumped up into the air and kicked the ball towards the goal, using her metal scream to put more power into it. In response Yuki called upon the breath and both fluxes clashed, causing a huge flux explosion on the field. As soon as the flux wave disappeared and the players' closets to the wave recovered, they could see that Yuki had caught the ball. Fans of the Snow Kids were chanting songs to celebrate Yuki brilliant catch. Sonny and Corso were also joining in with the singing; despite trying to keep a low profile. 

"Man Sonny, that got me going for a second." Corso stated, as soon as the voices had quieten down.

"I agree Corso." Sonny smiled towards his friends, but when his attention turned back to the screens his face turned grim. "But I'm a little worried about Mei; she seems to have a rough time recovering." Sonny commented. Corso turned his attention back to the screen to see D'jok kneeling next to Mei who was sitting on the field, taking a breather.

"Are you ok?" D'jok asked his secret fiancé (not secret to his dad anyway) wrapping his arm tightly around his shoulder. Slowly, Mei looked up to face him.

"I'm fine, just feeling a little bruised." Mei smiled back. She then turned to Rocket -who was standing near the hospital bed- nodded to him. With a small smile on his face Rocket waved the bed away and began to walk to his place when someone grabbed him by the shoulder.

"You ok Rocket, you looking a little distracted." Micro-Ice questioned his captain. For a second Rocket looked away in shame, he knew he was going to have a hard time playing the match without Tia but not this hard.

"I'm not ok Micro-Ice." Rocket finally responded, turning back to the small striker. Micro-ice nodded in sympathy with the eldest Snow Kid.

"I know it must hurt not having Tia hear but remember we're a team Rocket, we look out for each other." Micro-Ice sympathised, the empathy and intelligence that came out of Micro-Ice shocked Rocket and the other football players around him.

"He's right Rocket." D'jok added, walking next to Rocket with Mei next to him. "We're a team and we stick together." All the other Snow Kids surrounded Rocket, saying the same things. Then Thran placed his hand in the middle, followed quickly by Yuki, then Micro-Ice, and then all the other Snow Kids, finally Rocket placed his hand in the centre of the group with a look of new determination on his face. At the same time all the Snow Kids chanted,

"GO SNOW GO!"

Artie felt tired and sore all over. He was pretty sure he had only been here for nearly twenty-four hours but it felt like centuries he had been stuck in this dark room. Licking his dry lips, he could still taste the coppery blood inside his mouth and the chains around his wrists were rubbing his skin away. I have to get out of here and warn Sonny! Artie thought desperately, fiddling with the chains again but only made his wrists hurt even more. I can't believe I'm starting to miss that stupid robot; he tried to lighten the situation without much success, actually he was beginning to think this could be a little bit better. The suddenly slammed open and two guards walked, followed by a man wherein a blue suit and purple coat. Well he looks like a dick; Artie mused with himself but did not dare voice his opinion out loud, especially with the two scary looking guys standing right beside him.

"Who are you and what were you doing in the Netherball Stadium?" The man demanded, trying to look like he was kind of the world. Artie kept his trap shut for once in his life, since Corso was forever trying to shut him up. The man let out an annoyed sigh and walked back out of the room. "You know what to do?" The man snapped and slammed the door behind him. From the little light that was in the room, Artie could just make out the menacing looking faces grinning back out him and cracking the fingers. Now Artie was starting to think that maybe the robot wasn't so bad after all.

"_Woah! Another block by Kernor, she's certainly on fire tonight_." Nork comment excitedly, as Kernor blocked another attempt to score a goal from D'jok. Boo's echoed through the stadium but Kernor was smiling like she was the joker.

"No!" Sonny cried out, frustrated that the Ryker's goal keeper had blocked another one of his son's attempt to score a goal, ever since the Snow Kids had helped Rocket pulled himself together the Snow Kids had been on fire. The ball had not been near the Snow Kids goal once but they had not been able to score their own goals as well. Just as the players were making their way back to their stations the buzzer sounded; announcing the end of the match.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be purple all over tomorrow." Thran joked as the Snow Kids made their way off the pitch –the players that weren't do tired laughed- the defenders had taken the worse of the Ryker's force, especially Mei; it seemed the Rykers had developed some kind of grudge against her.


	8. BE FASTER

**Ok, so I got a lot of reviews asking if Mei's pregnant, to be honest I hadn't really thought of it, so I'm going to put a poll up and get you to vote, so you get to decide :) Enjoy the chapter. **

**I do not own galactic football**

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_"I just wanted to say good luck before you went on and I'll be cheering for you in the stands."_

_"__AND HERE COME THE SNOW KIDS!"_

_"She will keep playing understand! You have a brain; find some drug or something that can make her feel better!"_

_"GO SNOW GO!"_

_"Who are you and what were you doing in the Netherball Stadium?"_

**BE FASTER**

The Snow Kids were exhausted. The fiery spirit that had kept the football players going through the first half had left their bruised and battered bodies as soon as they slumped their heavy bodies on to the comfy sofa's that waited for the young adults in their changing room.

"If I wanted to feel like this, I would have become a wrestler." Micro-Ice complained, stretching his stiff shoulders. Yuki –the only one in the room whose legs didn't feel like they were going to fall off any second- rushed over to him and began massaging his shoulders. Leaning one of his hands gently on to hers so he could stop her; he looked up and smiled.

"Thanks Yuki but you should be resting yourself" Yuki just rolled her eyes at Micro-Ices comment and continued rubbing the knots out of his shoulders. This time, Micro-Ice was happy to melt into her warm touch and let her do what she wanted.

"What about me Yuki? Aren't you going to give you poor cousins' shoulders a massage?" Thran teased his slightly younger blood relative with a taunting smirk on his face; this quickly disappeared when Thran had to duck out of the way of a flying pillow that had been rocketing towards his head, he kept his head low to avoid the death glare Yuki was sending him while Micro-Ice was trying to suppress the laughter threatening to become an loud outburst. The other Snow Kids held back sniggers, while their poor teammate was hiding behind a pillow –without any success- to escape the glare. After the event had calmed down and it didn't look like Yuki was going to kill Thran (hopefully she had calmed down a bit) D'jok went over to Mei to try and comfort her the best he could, since he notice Mei suddenly looked more tired than anyone else and she looked like she was in a bit of pain.

"Are you alright?" D'jok questioned his lover – plus, secret fiancée - as he sat next to her and wrapped his muscular arm around her shoulders but quickly removed it when she made a silent hiss of pain. Noticing what she had done Mei sent her boyfriend an apologetic smile. D'jok didn't know what to do, he wanted to comfort her and make her feel a little bit better at least but sadly he was no doctor. Luckily after a minute after his trail of thought, Dame Simbai walked into the room and handed Mei some kind of drink.

"This will help get rid of some of the soreness and give you a bit of an energy boost." Simbai explained, as she handed similar drinks to the other football players. Once a Snow Kid took a sip they couldn't help but gag a little at the bitter after taste that the liquid left behind in their mouths but after a few seconds they didn't feel so tired anymore and most of their stiffness had disappeared. Aarch had been standing by the door waiting for the medicine to kick in before he announced his presence.

"Ok listen up." Aarch ordered, making all the team look straight at him. "I just want to say I'm proud of how well you're playing, even with the hardship on the pitch and I need you to keep it up, keep the pressure on and don't hold back. Now let's win this match!" The Snow Kids cheered at their coaches' enthusiastic statement.

"Coach is right, let's win this match." D'jok chanted. All of the Snow Kids rose to their feet and cheered,

"GO SNOW GO!"

Sonny and Corso were waiting anxiously for the teams to get back on to the pitch and finish the match; hopefully ending in a win for the Snow kids. They hope the young players had enough energy to continue playing and face the brutal force of the metal screamers for the second time. This is going to be rough on them, Sonny considered, gritting his teeth to stop them chattering with excitement. On the other hand Corso was unable to control his excitement and felt like he was going to burst through the ceiling if he didn't see any action soon. Poor Corso was nearly sent flying when his holo-watch started beeping and he thought the match was starting. Grunting under his breath he quickly looked at his watch to see what was calling him.

"Sorry Sonny I got to go." Corso told his long term companion, annoyed that he had to miss the last half of the match (the really exciting second half of the match) but this was important.

"Anything wrong Corso." Sonny questioned as his friend got up to leave.

"No, no Sonny, just something appeared on the computer that might help us." Corso answered, with a small smile on his face that was rarely seen by anyone. If he was lucky (and he meant really lucky) he might have found something that would help speed up the hacking processes he was working on to get into Genesis security system, now maybe he'll be able to find something that could lead to Artie or Tia. He saw Sonny rise to follow him but Corso put a hand on his shoulder to push the leader of the pirates back down. "I don't need your help for this Sonny but D'jok can use all the support he can get." Nodding in understanding Sonny sat back into his place while Corso slipped past football fans and guards alike before sneaking out of the football stadium...

Harris sat in a nice comfy chair next to Duke Maddox and waited patiently for the match to continue. Even though the Duke was being silent for now, Harris knew that he was going to hear a loud and angry earful later for being late; really late. He had arrived half way through the first half, since he had been a bit preoccupied watching videos of Tia's netherball games. She was amazing to watch, when she played it was like watching an archangel descend upon an army of demons and wipe them all out with a single blow; much better than the matches Rocket had played four years before. Callie Mystic's announcement of the players returning to the field broke the purple coat technoid assistant attention and made him look up and see the football teams returning to the holo pitch below him. Dark greedy eyes searched through the faces of players until he found the one he was looking for. He smiled when he saw the infantile player shiver at his intense stare and looked around to see who was watching him so intently.

"Let's hope the Snow Kids can keep up the effort that they had in the first half." Duke Maddox muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Harris to be distracted and turn to look at his boss.

"Sir?" Harris questioned politely (since it was part of his job) he waited patiently for his boss to answer his question.

"Did you not see the ruthlessness the Rykers performed in the first half; they'll probably be ten times worse now?" The head of the technoid enterprise mused, all of the technoid employees behind them faked laughed at the Duke's (unfunny) little joke, trying to get on the Dukes good side and who could blame them; if you were in Duke Maddox's good books, you could do or have anything he wanted. Harris was one of these people, how else was he able to get the supplies, money and energy he needed to keep the Netherball stadium going; besides he didn't need to get into more trouble then he already was with this man that so many men bowed to - unwillingly. Soon, very soon, it will be my turn to rule, Harris silently thought to himself, as his eyes returned to the back of the players head.

"Are you ok?" D'jok questioned Rocket as he saw his friend shiver for the second time and look around hastily. Rocket continued searching the crowd before turning back to his bright red headed team mate.

"I'm not sure." Rocket answered as he quickly search the crowd again before turning back to D'jok. "I keep getting this feeling I'm being watched." The reply D'jok gave him was a cocky eyebrow shifting a bit up his head and a small smile on his lips. Rocket had to admit it sounded crazy, he was surrounded by hundreds – no thousands- of crazy screaming football fans watching them play (well about to anyway) but still he couldn't get the feeling that someone was trying to burn holes into the back of his head. He decided to take throw it to the back of his head for now (while he was also trying to forget Tia was not playing with him) and went to his position, like all of his other team mates were doing. Everyone was in their positions, fire burned through their bodies as the prepared to face the metal football players for the second time. D'jok kept sending worried looks over to Mei but she smiled back, giving D'jok the signal that she was ok and ready to play.

"_Let the match begin." _Callie Mystic shouted into her microphone just as the buzzer sounded. Instantly, D'jok summoned his flux and jumped into the air, chasing the ball and sent it flying to Rocket who started running towards the goal. Just as a Ryker's player was about to tackle him he passed it to Micro-Ice, so fast that it was only when the ball was a second away from the goal that Kernor noticed it and was too late to stop it from hitting the back of the net. The screen above turned to one - nil. _"An_ _amazing shoot by Micro-Ice_!" Callie shouted at the top of her lungs. _"It's only been over a minute into the first half of the match and the Snow Kids have scored a goal!" _She tried to announce to the audience but only a few of them had heard it since the roars from the Snow Kids fans triumphant over any living thing that made a noise. Meanwhile, the Snow Kids were going crazy on the field and dancing around the youngest member of the team.

"That's how we have to do it." Rocket stated once the Snow Kids had calmed down (a little bit anyway) and proceeded to tell the group the plan he had come up with. "We forgot that the Rykers are fast but we're faster, we need to be quick and unpredictable." All of the Snow Kids nodded and agreed with Rockets idea. As the Snow Kids made their way back to their positions they couldn't help but notice the deathly glares that the metal woman were sending in their directions; if they thought the first half was bad, then they hadn't seen nothing yet. They knew they had to win this and dodge any Rykers players coming towards them –that was going to be hard for Thran and Mei- praying that none of them were going to die in this match and made their way back to their position.

Tia was bored. She had been for the last few hours. At least that creepy guy in the purple jacket didn't come to visit, she thought to herself, as she lay on her bed trying to sleep with no success. Seriously every time he came in he would just stand there and look at her with lustful, greedy eyes before trying to make small chat with her; little they were close friends or something. At least his young assistant was nice. He tried his best to make her feel comfort and gave her drugs that helped get rid of some of the pain and sickness out of her body but overall she still felt terrible. Why won't night time just hurry up already, she muttered miserably to herself. What annoyed her the most was that she never knew what time it was because there were no windows in her room. She would have to ask Mike when he came in with her next medication round. Just as soon as the thought had passed through her head, the door flashed open and Mike entered the room.

"What time is it Mike?" Tia asked, not bothering to start with polite introductions. She was determined to get out this tiny little room and taste blood; she needed to kick someone's butt. Mike gave her a small but happy smile, as he placed a small tray with her drugs and a bit of food to help keep her strength up.

"Only three o'clock, why do you ask?" Mike asked, his answer was met by an impolite grunt as Tia pulled the covers over her head- after she took her pills of course. Great! Tia muttered furiously to herself sleepy as the drugs began to take their effect.

"_Woah! Look at the Snow Kids move, their moving so fast and kicking so wildly it's impossible to keep up with it all!" _Callie voice echoed over the arena as Micro-Ice made another daring move to Mark, who then flipped it into the air and kicked it to D'jok. The Snow Kids had been unstoppable since the beginning of the first half after Rocket had given them their game plan. It was almost the end of the second half and the Snow Kids were winning three- nil, since the Rykers could not follow what the Snow Kids were doing most of the time and were having difficulty following the ball. D'jok made another attempt to score but his shot was so wild it bounced off the post. Luckily, Rocket had summoned his flux and was powering his way to the goal post -with a large leap of faith- he bounced into the air and with a twirling motion of his body kicked the goal straight into the back of the net. Suddenly, the buzzer announcing the end of the match went off and a huge wave of accomplishment screamed through the crowd of watchers. _" Yay! An Excellent goal by Rocket. The Snow Kids did it and now they can advance on to the next stage of the cup." _Callie Mystic shrieked joyfully, while her co-presenters just looked at her like she was crazy. Meanwhile, on the pitch all of the Snow Kids were jumping up and down near Rocket or on to him (in Micro-Ice's case anyway) and were dancing around in victory. They were now one step further to winning the galactik football cup for a third time.


	9. EVERYTHINGS NOT AS IT SEEMS

**Last time on Galactik Football**

_"If I wanted to feel like this, I would have become a wrestler."_

_"Are you alright?"_

_"GO SNOW GO!"_

_"Sorry Sonny I got to go."_

_" Yay! An Excellent goal by Rocket. The Snow Kids did it and now they can advance on to the next stage of the cup."_

**EVERYTHINGS NOT AS IT SEEMS**

The smell of victory quickly drifted away when the soreness in their feet started to appear. Slowly (and very painfully) Dame Simbai helped each Snow Kid to their bed and gave them all something to drink to help get rid of some pain and the swelling that had settled into their poor feet; for some of the Snow Kids (especially the defenders) Dame Simbai had ordered bed rest and could only get up if there was a fire or something; even then Dame Simbai was having doubts if they would be able to move on their own without stumbling over their own feet. However, that didn't stop most of the Snow Kids getting up to trouble, for example -in Mei's room- D'jok and Mei were having some alone time together.

"D'jok your ego is getting out of control again." Mei warned just in time to stop her boyfriend from starting an half an hour rant on an amazing goal he had made against the Rykers in the second half. Realising what he was doing, D'jok suddenly stopped his mouth, snapping it shut and sent his secret fiancée an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I swear I am working on it." He admitted, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Mei only shook her head as she placed the movie they were going to watch into the DVD player, she glanced over at boyfriend to see him already digging into the popcorn. Shaking her head again she sank back into the warm embrace of her boyfriends firm and muscular arms. Half an hour into the movie Mei could feel herself falling asleep because the movie was just so boring; in fact it felt like she was she was trying to hold her two eyelids open with cranes attracted to them. She felt like she was just about to fall asleep when she felt something massaging between her legs. Shockwaves shoot through her body, making her body bolt right. Turning her heads towards D'jok, she sent the most evil looking glare that it was possible to kill a senior citizen on the spot from fright. However, D'jok just smirked back at her and continued to send her hormones going crazy. Two can play at that game, Mei mentally shoot back, trying to figure out a way to get back at him (despite being distracted by D'jok – a lot) then a brilliant idea came to her head.

"D'jok, honey, I have something to tell you." She smiled up at him innocently, flashing her dark long lashes and pressing her body closer to his. D'jok just grinned, thinking something completely different to what Mei was about to say. "I'm pregnant." It was at that moment that the whole of Genesis went still; no one moved, no one talked, no one even breathed, it was like the whole stadium had suddenly shut done. All of a sudden, everything happened at once. Popcorn went flying, Mei burst out laughing and D'jok crashed on to the floor.

"Are you serious?" D'jok questioned a panicked expression on his face but it quickly fell once he took into account Mei fit of giggles.

"Of course not silly." She managed to breathe once she had calmed down a bit and wacked her boyfriend lightly on the shoulder. But before she teased him any more from his shock Mei found herself being ruby tackled on to the bed.

"You are so going to pay for that" D'jok whispered seductively into her ear as he pinned her down to the bed and began to kiss her neck, nipping and sucking her creamy scream. He sometimes thought her skin was like a drug or something, it smelled of strawberries and jasmine; two of D'joks favourite smells. Mei thought about fighting back but D'joks sweet kisses made her think otherwise and let herself be taken for the night.

Corso had just finished up loading the programmed he had 'burrowed' from a technoid security development company and was using it to help him hack into the security systems even fastest. Even though he had just up dated it he was still annoyed that it was taking so long to find the two kids. Whoever had them was good at covering up their tracks; that was never a good thing. Why did it have to be Artie that got kidnapped, he's just a kid? Corso thought angrily as he stabbed at the keyboard. There was also the fact that Artie was the computer expert not him. Next time I'm putting some kind of tracking device on that trouble making mutt next time I put him on probation, Corso mumbled like an annoyed parent. The next moment was so sudden that Corso might have missed it if he hadn't been staring at it for that particular moment. What was that, he thought, tapping in a few dials he searched for the spark again until he found it. Well, well, well, who else has been hacking into the security system, Corso smirked, as he linked himself with the system. A few clicks later, by tapping into the little link –that shouldn't exist- Corso was able to hack into the security system; which was now fully under his control, what shocked him the most was that he found some kind of in cryptic file that held an erased scene of Artie following two Wambas beneath Genesis Staduim...

"Alright Snow Kids listen up!" Aarch ordered the football players as he began to give them new game plans they would use in the tournament. Most of the Snow Kids were scribbling down like mad; however, Rocket was having a hard time adjusting his thoughts and was only scribbling half of what was being said down. He had this weird dream last night, he found himself back in the sphere again but this had to be the worst experience he had ever faced in the sphere.

_He walked around the white room, trying to remain calm while he searched for an exit but with no success. Looking at himself he saw that he was wearing his Snow Kids uniform for some reason (he had always dreamt himself in the gear he had rented playing this sport last time) he expected to have flashing images of players he had battle before and then he realised he had hurt Tia while she was trying to save him. But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was different, instead of feeling like he wanted to tear something apart he felt like he was there to save something; the only thing that felt the same in this place was that he knew he had to win. Then he head the door swoosh open behind him. In slow motion he turned to face his rival. A part of him already knew who was coming but that didn't stop him falling to his knees as the strength he once had suddenly disappeared. The person that stood in front of him was none other than his beloved angel; Tia. He tried calling to her, screaming at her to stop all of this and come home with him, that he was sorry for the way he had treated and that he loved her. Hoping she would listen to his desperate pleads but she refused to listen. The sight of her broke his heart. She was sick; really sick! Her beautiful angel like complexion had gone completely and was replaced by a zombie._

"_Let's do this!" She smirked, walking towards the centre of the sphere and waited for him to take his place. Pulling himself together, Rocket forced himself to move to the centre of the sphere also and stand right in front of her. He tried one more time to plead with her but she just shrugged him off like the other times. Despite every single cell in his body telling him this was wrong he knew he had to do this – for her. That's when the battle began. _

"Ok team into the holo trainer!" Aarch suddenly called out, breaking Rocket from his deep nightmare. He looked around to see everyone's notes had completed a full page while he barely had half a page. How long did I zone out for? Rocket wondered, as he got up with the other Snow Kids -some of them still mumbling about their sore feet- and followed them to the training room.

That was cruel, Thran thought as he limped across the floor to the vending machine near the checking in area. The team had just finished another training session and he felt like his feet were going to fall off, since they still ached from the Rykers match. Aarch is going crazy to win this stupid cup... again! Thran cursed, fiddling in his pocket for his wallet, he planned to get a drink and then go and visit his brother; too see if there had been any improvement but at the moment, it wasn't exactly going to plan. Damn! Where did I put that thing, Thran thought angrily as he rampaged through his pocket again but was still unable to find his wallet.

"Let me get one for you." A sweet voice offered. Thran looked up to see the back of a girls head and a dark blue guitar case with black and silver designs strapped to her back.

"Thanks but you really don't have..." He stopped when the girl turned to face him. The girls jet black hair had tints of blue highlights, which brought out her sapphire eyes and matching leather jacket that covered a purple t-shirt, skinny jeans and black boots; for some reason he had a hard time tearing his eyes off her. "Oh my God! You're Clary Kilmurry, lead singer and guitar player of Dark Beauties." Thran rambled on like a complete idiot, mentally smacking himself in the head for it. Here he was talking to one the most beautiful –not to mention successful singer, song writer and hit music producer that ever existed- The girl just laugh at his embarrassing moment and handed him his drink.

"Yeah and your Thran, defender of the two time champion Snow Kids" She replied, the drink into his unmoveable hands while Thran just nodded like a complete idiot; talking to girls was not his speciality. "Cool, it was nice meeting you." Clary smiled, giving him a quick salute before leaving. Thran tried to find the words to say bye back or at least wave but his muscles refused to co-operate with his brain. Just as he thought she was about to disappear forever, she quickly turned back to face him again. "Oh! You better win this cup; I've got money on you and your team." She gave him an quick thumbs up before leaving the hotel, where the paparazzi were outside waiting and dived on top her. Poor girl, Thran thought, hitting himself on the head a million times for not taking the opportunity to ask her out when he had a chance. Maybe next time I won't let a totally awesome girl slip through his finger tips, Thran pondered as he decided it was time to go and mope to his little brother about another disaster in his love life, not that there was much of one anyway.

"D'jok?" Mei asked randomly as she sat on Micro-Ices bed, playing with her hair as D'jok searched his CD rack for the CD she wanted to borrow from him.

"Hn!" D'jok answered, his thoughts focus on finding the stupid CD he was looking for with no success. My father is much easier to find then this stupid album, D'jok swore as he continued to search for his lost treasure.

"Do you want kids?" Mei continue to inquire, this subject caught D'jok attention. It didn't take long to think of an answer.

"Of course I do, I believe that was one of the things I said when I asked to marry you." He answered, sitting himself next to the most beautiful girl in the whole universe (to him anyway, Micro-Ice and Rocket might have other ideas) placing a comforting arm around her waist and pulled her towards him, using his other hand to place gently under her chin and made her look up at him. "Why would you ask that?" He asked, worried that she was having second thoughts or something.

"It's just... I don't know the reaction I got from you last night was more than I expected." Mei confessed to him, snuggling into his arm even more but D'joks hand stayed firm under her chin, so she was still looking into his beautiful green eyes which glittered with laughter.

"Come on Mei, I was trying to get hot and heavy with you and you blurt out that question, how else was I meant to react." D'jok laughed, making Mei laughed as well.

"Yeah maybe you're right." Mei suggested, placing a soft kiss on his cheek and moved away but after feeling her lips burn her skin, D'jok chased after her and lock lips with. Just as it was about to get interment with each other, a cough sounded at the door. Jumping apart they both glared at Micro-Ice and Yuki leaning on the door frame, holding each other's hands tightly.

"I would prefer that you wouldn't make out on my bed, I have to sleep on that thing you know." Micro-Ice half joked, while Yuki tried her because to hide the smile threatening to explode on his face, knowing full well what she and Micro-Ice had got to under the covers. Absorbing what Micro-Ice meant by his comment both D'jok and Mei jumped off the bed instantly, suppressing their shivers.

Sonny and Bennet examined the footage that Corso had recovered only hours ago. They would of responded quicker but just as they were making their way back to the ship they suddenly got a call and caught up with another meeting with technoid to arrange an agreement between the two enemies (which the Obia Moon ambassadors were happy to help with) when they got the call from Corso telling them that he found the last place where Artie was last scene, new hope surged through them but when they heard that some else had hacked the system and hidden the file, Sonny couldn't help that this happy feeling was not going to last long; once they found out who was behind all of this. Nevertheless, this new lead was one step closer to Artie and maybe one more step closer to finding Tia.

"Is it just me or have I seen those two before." Bennet questioned, pointing to the two ex-Wambas players that Artie had been following. Sonny and Corso nodded in agreement with him.

"Not just that, check where the entrance is." Sonny added, indicating to the doorway the people on the camera entered.

"Doesn't that lead to where the Netherball Stadium used to be?" Bennet objected, raising an eyebrow at the oddness of the idea. The Netherball Stadium had been destroyed because of the big riot that had erupted last time when Tia had faced Rocket in the Sphere last time. So, why were people still heading down there?

"I think it's time we check it out." Sonny suddenly stated, grabbing his jacket and left, leaving the two other pirates to quickly collect their things and chased after him.


	10. WHAT IS THE TRUTH

**Last time on Galactik Football**

_"D'jok your ego is getting out of control again."_

_"__Let's do this!"_

_"Let me get one for you."_

_"Of course I do, I believe that was one of the things I said when I asked to marry you."_

_"Is it just me or have I seen those two before."_

**WHAT IS THE TRUTH**

"Come on guys, it's only once in a life time we get a night off from Aarch!" Micro-Ice cheered, racing ahead with Yuki while Mark and Thran walked slowly behind them, heading into the carnival that Yuki wanted to attend, since they had kind of made it an tradition it visit every year. How can they both have so much energy after everything that happen, Mark and Thran thought together, as they made their way down the street, disguised with sunglasses and hats. They must of looked like total idiots to the people they walked past (wearing sunglasses at night was not the greatest fashion statement in the world) but it was a necessary evil if they wanted to walk through the streets of Genesis without being jumped by paparazzi or crazy fans. This small piece of freedom was a breath of fresh air for the popular football players. Nevertheless, Thran was still in a bad mood for losing the love of his life because of his stupid numb tongue. Ok, maybe she wasn't the love of his life but she was the most totally awesome and super hot girl he had ever met; even though the other guys with their girlfriends might have different ideas. Unknown to Thran, the universe was about to give Thran a second chance at true happiness. Just as Thran and Mark were about to join the line where his cousin and friend were jumping around in excitement, something collided with him; full force. The young defender was certain that he had blacked out for a second but as soon as he regained focus he couldn't help but stared like a lunatic at the beautiful blue eyes staring in to his dark ones.

"Hey." Her pretty voice sang through his ear drums. Forcing his mind to work he tried to find some greeting to say back to her, however, the next thing that the defender of the two time champions came up with was...

"You're on top of me." Now, not only did Thran decide it was the stupidest thing he had ever said but it sounded strangely seduction as well. This seemed to of worked through since the famous rock star realised that she was on top of a famous football star and quickly got off him. She seemed to realise what reality she was in and started spinning around, like she was checking that a hungry lion was still not after her. Once she seemed to think the coast was clear she turned back to the four Snow Kids, who were staring at her with wonder and confusion in their eyes.

"Sorry, was being chased by crazy fans." She admitted, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. All the Snow Kids nodded in understanding -the rock stars fame limit was just as high as theirs- they could understand what she had been going through. Yuki was almost disappointed with her cousin for not doing much but just stared at her with his mouth hanging wide open. Time for me to step in, Yuki thought, as she looked at the two other boys to see that none of them had realised the chemistry that was happening between Clary and Thran.

"Would you like to join us?" Yuki suggested innocently. Mark was too busy eating something (that he had gotten out of nowhere) to take account of what she was saying and Thran... well, he was a bit preoccupied staring at the goddess of rock to take notice. However, Micro-Ice knew Yuki well enough and was quick to catch on to what his girlfriend was trying to do.

"Sure I would love to come." She smiled, taking a hat out of her coat pocket and wrapping her hair into a ponytail and stuffed it all into her hat. All of the Snow Kids gave her funny looks as they watch the scene unfold. "I was stupid enough to take it off when I settled down at a cafe to get something to eat." Clary shrugged, a little annoyed with herself for doing such a stupid thing but accidents happen.

"Cool, let's go!" Yuki cheered, grabbing Clary's and her cousins' hands and dragged them back into the line to get her tickets with Mark and Micro-Ice laughing their heads off as the followed.

"Have I already told you I have a bad feeling about this?" Bennet repeated again for the hundredth time as he followed Sonny and Corso deeper and deeper into Genesis and for the hundredth time the two older men ignored them as they proceeded further down the tunnel. Sonny wasn't sure if it was old age or the fact that they had to reroute through the tunnels three times now because of technoid robots body guarding the halls but it was getting more and more difficult to get to the place they were trying to reach. This last tunnel was the last path he could think off to get to the area they were hoping to reach; they had used it a few years ago, so they could watch the matches while they did the test on the sphere. Thankfully, this time they were able to get to the hidden place at the back of the Netherball stadium.

"Sonny look!" Corso exclaimed quite loudly then he should of, since he was the first to look through the small gaps in the wall, placing himself beside his oldest friend. He was glad that his pirate senses had kicked in before he began shouting out a thousand curses because what he saw made him want to vomit. Someone had rebuilt the Netherball stadium, old and new football players where surrounding the sphere that hovered in the middle of the large room. Who the hell is nuts enough to rebuild this thing? Sonny struggled to think as he watched the scene before them. Quickly moving his head away from the scene before him, he stared down at his watch to see that it was two minutes to mid-night, if he remembered correctly it was around this time that the matches began. He couldn't understand why someone had re-built this, the last person who had run this was Bleylock and the only reason he built it was to steal all of the players fluxes and use them as a powerful weapon, so who was behind all of this? Surely there was more to this then watching football players beat the crap out of each other. No. There was something else going on. Was it possible that they had overlooked something last time? Did Bleylock somehow survive the explosion, indeed he did somehow survive the fall last time but Sonny had a feeling that he was gone and truly dead this time. Then, did that mean Bleylock have a partner...? It was possible, the first time he had Baldwin helping him with his crazy plan and someone needed to know the possibilities of this place to set it up again and get it all working. But who was this person? Before Sonny could think anymore he felt both Corso and Bennet shaking his shoulders.

"Sonny look!" Corso shouted again, pointing in the direction of the Sphere. Replacing his eye to the gap he was looking through Sonny actually did stutter a million curses as he watched the small, petit figure walking towards the sphere. No! Sonny cursed quietly to himself. How could this be possible? Sonny knew Tia was the one person that hated Netherball then anyone else put together, so why the hell was she here...

Meanwhile, Tia was mentally preparing herself for the next match, as always she ignored the chanting of the crowd but she used their energy to fuel her own. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't hide the large smirk that spread across her face. Walking towards the robot referee she saw a large lizard type thing in a white and purple football suit waiting for her to arrive. I thought the guy I played before ugly, Tia mused to herself as she stepped in front of the lizard. It hissed and a long, thin tongue licked around its mouth. Nice, Tia thought, trying her best not to shiver. Her opponent grinned to show her his pointy white teeth.

"You're going to have to do better than that to scare me." Tia sneered, causing an annoyed looking frown to appear on his face.

"We'll see puny player." The reptile answered back and made his way towards the Sphere. Shrugging her shoulders like the threat was no big deal; Tia followed the green lizard into the Sphere. As soon as the doors slammed shut behind her, leaving her locket into a room with the hissing Xenon, who had already made his way into the centre. A bit impatient, Tia thought, as she approached the player. "You should walk away now while you have a chance." The Xenon ordered, Tia yawned and shrugged at the giant reptile. She didn't plan to say anything else until the end of the match, since she needed to save her energy until the end of the match. The buzzer went and the ball appeared suddenly into the centre of the room. Before she could take into account what happened next the overgrown lizard slammed into her and sent her flying across the room. Ouch! Tia thought, instantly pushing herself up again to see her opponent scoring ago. Rage filled through her as she punched the floor in anger; the Xenon player's smirk did nothing but enrage the active volcano hissing and spitting inside. Forcing herself up, Tia stomped over to the centre of the Sphere and faced her opponent again. The ball appeared in front of their feet again and Tia quickly stole it before the lizard could blink. She twirled around the other player and sped off towards the goal; however, the Xenon was just as quick and was already beside her, trying to steal the ball from her. A quick jab of his elbow sent Tia stumbling, losing control of the ball in the process. The Xenon retook the ball but Tia wasn't giving up easily, she ran after him and slide right into the back to the player's feet, knocking him over. Stealing the football she took it to the other side of the room and kicked it into the opposite goal, tying the two football players. Now, Tia was the one grinning her head off. Again, the two famous rivals made their way to the centre again. As soon as the ball appeared both players made a grab for it; kicking it so hard that the ball disappeared under the force. Both players growled at each other as they waited patiently for the ball to reappear. As soon as it was there Tia just managed to steal the ball before the Xenon player took it and made her way towards the goal. The lizard tried to steal the ball from her feet and nearly exceeded if she hadn't turned to face to keep an eye on his footing and started running backwards with the ball playing between both her feet. Just as the Xenon was about to slide steal the ball away from her, she grabbed the ball between her feet and gracefully jumped over him. Spinning around she saw the lizard still laying on the floor watching her.

"Well what are you waiting for? Shot!" The deep echo of the lizard's voice echoed through the room. A small laugh came from Tia's throat as she shook her head. The other football player did not take this so nicely and stood up to face her. "What? What is so funny?" The lizard roared making Tia laugh harder.

"Nothing," She hissed back at him, wiping the tear that was falling down her cheek away; her face was serious again. Tia faced the lizard; none of her body trembled in fear as so many other football players had done in front of him. "I had been expecting more." She smirked, taking a few steps away from the ball, realising what was happening the Xenon player made a ran for the ball but Tia glided a few steps forward towards the ball and kicked the ball, so it span around the footballers head and flew into the goal. Side stepping out of the way, Tia watched as the Xenon collapsed on to his knees and hands, slamming an angry fist on the floor. Tia walked past him and gave him a small and mocking salute. "Maybe next time, hopefully you'll be more fun to play with." She smiled, as she continued to leave the room.

"I wonder what Rocket would be thinking of you playing a sport you both hate?" The Xenon's chilling voice echo through the whole room, making Tia freeze in her tracks. The name bounce around her brain, screaming at her to remember but it was like some kind of barrier was in the way of her thought patterns.

"Rocket?" Tia questioned - turning towards the green reptile who was still kneeing on the floor- looking for answers. The Xenon stood up and stared at her; examining her face features carefully. A silent moment pasted between the two before the Xenon tore his face away and marched out of the door; leaving Tia all alone.

"We've got to do something Sonny!" Corso suddenly shouted, almost blowing there cover because two robots had thought they had heard something but weren't sure because of the cheering. He turned to Sonny for a plan of action but was shocked to see the leader of the pirates still staring (Sonny had gone into shock) at what he had just seen on the wide screen in front of him. Millions of thoughts kept re-playing in his head: how did this happen? What the hell is going on and how the fuck did Tia get wrapped up in all of this? He ignored the questions that Corso and Bennet were trying to ask him because he simply didn't know how to answer them. Giving them both quick looks he shook his head, bowing his head in shame. The other two pirates went quite after that, not sure what to do in this situation. Looking back at the screen he saw a close up of Tia standing in the Sphere by herself. Sorrow filled his heart at the site of her, it was obvious she was ill; very ill. The other two pirates notice his expression change and saw what was on the screen as well; their pity soon became anger. How could someone let this happen to her? Was everyone down there so obsessed with the game that they did not see the young girl dying in front of them. Unable to watch was happening anymore and forced himself away from the gap. It was time they got back to the ship and to get some answers.

"I had a great time." Clary smiled, as she and Thran stood in front of the doors of the hotel (surprisingly there no reporters hanging outside the hotel for once) he couldn't believe how well he had gotten along with her, at first he was nervous but she was just so down to earth that he found it easy to relax and be normal around her, plus they had a lot in common. Now he was trying to have some time alone with her or so he thought. What they didn't know is that Yuki, Micro-Ice and Mark were standing on the other side of the door trying to overhear the conversation.

"So did I." Thran grinned back, hiding his sweating hands behind his back, so she wouldn't see how nervous he was. Taking a deep breath, he gathered up all the courage he could muster before asking her a risky question. "Would you like to do it again sometime?" He asked her, trying to control his out of control heart. He grew even more nervous when Clary suddenly leaned in quite close so their faces were only an inch apart.

"I would like that." She whispered seductively before closing the gap between them. Thran was quite shock at first but quickly adjusted his brain to the situation and kissed back.

"Yes!" Micro-Ice cried out at the top of his voice when he witnessed the historical event that had just happen – Thran had fallen in love. His outcry caused him to have a slap on the mouth when Yuki tried to get him to be quiet, hoping that Thran and his new girlfriend hadn't heard her loud mouth boyfriend. However, looking out the window she saw her cousin and the famous rock star were a bit too busy to notice anything at the moment.

"You almost blew our cover you idiot." She hissed at him, giving him a small slap around the head.

"Can you really blame me for being happy for him?" Micro-Ice shot back with a little smirk on his face. "Besides, Mark now owes me twenty credits." A small groan came from Mark who had still been watching the scene happening outside.

"What is going on here?" A familiar and terrifying voice inquired the young football players, making them jump out of their skins. They turned to face their coach with an annoyed look on his face. Nevertheless, they didn't fail to notice Aduim by his side with a small smile on her face that looked like she was trying to hold back laughter.

"Eeeerrrrrrrr..." All three footballers echo, scratching the back of the heads. They were saved from answering the question when Thran floated in with a loved up expression on his face.

"Hey guys." Thran mumbled as he hovered away from them and up to his room. The three Snow Kids decided it was about time to run for it, since Aarch was to busying staring at Thran to take notice, taking the opportunity they crept away quietly into the shadows, taking the stairway up to their room.

"Now you three..." Aarch began (once he had come out of his confession) turning to the three young adults to find them gone. He heaved a deep sigh while Aduim could only giggle. Oh well, I can always get them back in training tomorrow, Aarch thought as he took Aduims hand and dragged her back to his room.


	11. THE XENON'S VS THE SHADOWS

**I do not own Galactik Football**

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_"Come on guys, it's only once in a life time we get a night off from Aarch!"_

_"Have I already told you I have a bad feeling about this?"_

_"You're going to have to do better than that to scare me."_

_"Rocket?"_

_"I would like that."_

**THE XENON'S VS THE SHADOWS**

Aarch remained true to his word and worked the Snow Kids hard until they were almost drilled half way into Genesis crust. He had to work especially hard with Thran, whose head seemed to keep floating away with reality. Wonder who the lucky girl is, Aarch thought, as he saw the dreamy expression on the young defenders face. The coach of the Snow Kids wasn't the only one to realise the puppy love expression on his face; even Rocket in his doom and gloom mood couldn't help but notice his fellow team mate's mood. Despite the Snow Kids feeling nearly half dead the training session went pretty well. Everyone was confident that whatever team the Snow Kids were about to play that they would play a pretty good match. They knew their opponents would either be the Shadows or the Xenon's but they wouldn't know for sure until they played against each other today, which the Snow Kids were both excited and nervous to watch. Both of the teams both had the Snow Kids scared, since they were both good teams and both scared the young players to death; however, that wasn't going to frighten the two time champions off from watching the match. A beeping noise from Dame Simbai unit caught Aarch's and Clamp attention, worrying thoughts began rushing through their minds until Simbai put their unsettled minds at ease.

"It's ok; it's just Ahito waking up. I'll go and check on him now." Dame Simbai smiled and left the room, with a sigh of relief from Aarch and Clamp they continued on with the training lesson; excited to tell the kids the good news. They continued with the strict appearance until the training session finished. The two older men could not contain the smiles on the faces as the holo-trainer disappeared.

"Good news Snow Kids." Aarch beamed at the young players in front of him, who were all dripping in sweat. "Ahito condition has improved and is awake if you want to see him." Before he could say another word all of the Snow Kids ran out of the room towards the medical wing where Dame Simbai was treating her patient at the moment. Her concentration was broken when she heard the chaos that the Snow Kids were making outside on their way down to Ahito's room. Taking a deep breath, Dame Simbai strode outside to the front door and guarded it so none of the Snow Kids could get in.

"Hang on guys, Ahito still very weak, only two people can go and see him." Her exotic voice demanded with a lot of authority (which she had learned working with the Flux Society) and stood firm while all the football players discussed with each other. All heads instantly turned to Thran and then Yuki. Understanding the silent message, both of the cousins looked at each other and nodded before heading into the room. The two defensive players were glad to see that the wires and machines that had been attached to the Snow Kids goalie had gone and only a breathing mask had been placed on his face. They made their way over the bed and sat down, noticing that Ahito was trying to stay awake.

"Hey... guys." He breathed slowly, gathering every ounce of strength his body could muster to talk. Thran and Yuki both gave him a weary smile, since they were glad to see him getting better but were sad to see him so weak. Taking up the opportunity to help Ahito catch up on what he had missed in the last couple of days, his cousin and twin brother began telling him what the Snow Kids had been up to. Yuki didn't like the fact that Thran was missing out an important point of the week (so as his cousin and friend) Yuki decided she would tell Ahito.

"Thran's got a girlfriend." Yuki burst out suddenly, earning evils from Thran; but that didn't stop the red blush appearing on his face as well.

"No...way...man...spill!" Ahito heaved excitedly, while his twin brother cheeks turned even rosier. Sitting innocently in the chair next to Thran, Yuki grinned evilly as she watched her cousin explain the newest development in his love life. After he explained who his new girl friend was Ahito could only say...

"Hey bro... if... it... doesn't...work...out...do...you...think...I'll...have...a...chance." Yuki couldn't help but burst laughing at her sleepy relatives' attempt to make a joke of the situation; it was even funnier to watch when Thran's face twisted into a grin and a frown at the same time.

Sonny sat in his chair, staring at the holo-phone with a stern frown plastered on his face. Despite the fact that he should have been doing something more helpful with his fellow pirates this was equally important. Moments later he heard the door to his office open, followed by the sound of footsteps. After a few minutes of silence between the two crew mates, Sonny spoke.

"I can't tell them Corso, I just can't." The leader of the pirates admitted to his oldest friend. How was he suppose to tell Tia's parents, boyfriend and team mates that their loved one had returned to some crazy, violet and dangerous sport that would probably kill them if they found out about it? Besides, things didn't add up, it wouldn't have been fair to tell them where she was and give them no answers to how and why she was doing this or who got her there. The old pirate decided it was time that they started finding these answers. "Corso, get Bennet and the robot, it's time we found out what's really going on down there."

Mei really hated doing these photo shoots but her mother managed to dig up an old contract that Mei thought she had finished a long time ago, so she had to do at least three or four more shoots before she was finished with the whole commercial thing forever. Nevertheless, knowing her luck her mother would find some other contract that she would have to do; her mother would never give up the dream that she could be an actress. I should have kept better tabs on what I had been signing, Mei grumbled to herself, as she did her last smile for the camera. Usually, it would have taken longer but thankfully her mum and dad were on their second honeymoon, so she wasn't as tired as usual. Grabbing a hot cup of coco from one of the runners and walked over to her dressing room, she sat down on the comfy sofa in the corner to relax her aching feet. Standing up for two hours is not fun, Mei laughed to herself as she enjoyed the relaxing sensation of hot chocolate. Just as the football player (plus super modal) finished of her last sip of melted chocolate, she felt some gentle touch her neck.

"I thought you were hanging with the guys tonight." She smiled, bending her neck to the side, so her secret fiancé had more room to kiss the base of her neck.

"I was but I just couldn't get the image of your beautiful body out of my head." He whispered seductively in her ear and began nipping at her ear. A girl can get use to this, Mei dreamed, as she closed her eyes and allowed her boyfriend to make magical sparks through her nervous system. The only time she made any attempt to react with his movements was when he attached his lips to hers and she moulded hers into his. As the passion grew hotter between them, D'jok slowly began to undo his dressing gown...

Cold sweat dripped down Rockets body as he woke up from another horrifying nightmare. It was the same dream; always the same dream. He needed to pull himself into a protective ball to stop the violent shaking. What's wrong with me? Rocket questioned himself, pushing himself off the bed and into the shower. The hot water hit Rocket's body like an hundred knives stabbing him all at once. Did Tia feel this way when I was gone? Rocket thought but shook his head quickly. No, Tia was much stronger than him; Rocket had always run away from his problems but Tia had always stood up to her problems and even helped him to face some of his own. Feeling a little better, Rocket got out of the shower and put on some clean clothes. He hadn't meant to fall asleep but he had been having trouble with the restless nights and training. Knocking on the door caught his attention just as he had finished dressing. Reaching for the remote, he opened the door.

"Come on Rocket the match is about to start." Micro-ice cheered, before running off to the lounge. At least some things never change, Rocket thought, rolling his eye as he slowly followed his hyperactive team mate down the hall. He saw that the whole team had not arrived in the room yet, they were all staring at the television, waiting for Callie Mystic to introduce the match. He sat on the couch that faced directly opposite the T.V it was his and Tia space. I wish I picked someplace else, Rocket thought, looking at the empty pace that Tia would have been; the feeling of emptiness weighed heavily on his chest. "Where have you two been?" Micro-Ice demanded, when Mei and D'jok came walking into the room.

"Just been helping Mei get out of her modelling clothes." D'jok shrugged, earning a small blush on Mei's face. Everyone tried their best to hold back the laughter but it was clear as daylight that the team had got the secret meaning that D'jok had been implying; they had all walked in on them to many times not to know how enthusiastic their sex life was. The late arrivals sat themselves down on the end couch. At first, Mei refuse to cuddle into him like she usually did but D'jok put on some kind of puppy love look (which to Mei look really adorable) so Mei couldn't resisted leaning in to his robust chest. Watching the scene unfold before him Rocket couldn't help but feel jealous of his two team mates open relationship. Maybe if I had treated Tia like that she wouldn't have been kidnapped, Rocket thought, beating himself up for the millionth time for not being there to protect her.

"Quiet guys the match is starting." Thran hushed everyone as the match began, turning everyone's attention to the holo-television.

"_Hello sports fans; we have an exciting match in store for you tonight. The Xenons versus the Shadows." Callie cheered excitedly, she was right about how thrilling the match was. The fans in the stadium were cheering like starving zombies trying to grab a chicken bone hanging from the ceiling. The crowd cries grew even louder at the team floated onto the pitch. Sinedd was jumping up and down, sucking in the cheers that the stadium was creating. To everyone's surprise, Luur made no attempt to scare off the other team, instead he just made his way to his position. Nevertheless, Luurs fans were still cheering crazily for him."Let the match begin!" Callie cried out, as the ball flew into the air, Sinedd and another Xenon player jumped up, The Xenon player managed to get it first and kicked it to Luur, who began running towards the goal but was easily tackled by a Shadows defender him. _

"_Xenon doesn't seem to be quite awake today, don't you think Callie." Nork asked Callie, a shock went through out the galaxy because of Luurs weak attempt to play football; he was a god when it came to this kind of thing._

"_I agree with you Nork." Callie Mystic simply stated, obviously more in shock then her co-anchor. The game continued and seeing their star player was not playing well for some reason the team automatically put on a defensive play. Every time a Shadows attacker got to close, a Xenon player would stop them and kick the ball to one of their own. It didn't matter how many times Luur had the ball the opposing team would steal it from him. The whole first half was basically a war between the Shadows attackers and the Xenons defenders, colliding against each other as the time with the Smog tried to smash through the powerful barrier that stood between the Xenons goal. When the buzzer announced the end of the first half, everyone was able to stop biting their nails (about time, they had pretty much destroyed their nail beds) everyone was clueless about who would win this match. The second half quickly game and the Xenon defence were still on high alert, so no matter what the Shadows tried they couldn't get through. Five minutes left on the clock and he score was still nil to all. The Xenon goalie had just stopped another attempt from one of the shadows strikers and had kicked the ball to one of his team mates but it was intercepted by Sinedd; using the Smog. The goalie panicked and ran forward to stop him but Sinedd kicked the ball so hard it went whizzing past his head and towards the goal. Everyone held their breath as the ball flew towards the goal. There was a burst of green light came out of nowhere and suddenly Luur was in front of the goal. Taking control of the ball Luur power ran over the pitch with re-new strength. Blowing aside any opposing football player that got in front of him. With the Heat of Xenon, Luur reached the other end of the pitch. Using all his strength Luur kicked the ball into the Shadows net. Everyone was silent but the whole stadium suddenly exploded in to cheers of victory. _

The whole team could only watch with shocked looks on their faces on the amazing goal that had just happened on the screen. They weren't sure if they should be excited about the team they were going to face or run away as fast as they could and hope no one will notice their disappearance.

"We are so going to loss!" Thran suddenly cried out with most of the Snow Kids nodding in agreement until Rocket spoke.

"We've beaten them before guys we can do it again." Rocket encourage. He decided it was time to start acting like a captain again, since he swore to himself he would not fall apart; if Tia could say strong for not just herself but for the team then he could do it as well. All of the team were a little shocked at first by Rocket sudden outburst of encouragement that they weren't sure what to do at first until Thran jumped in,

"Yeah, we can so do this, we're the Snow Kids." Thran jumped up and cheer with all the Snow Kids following him.

"Go Snow Go!" The whole team cheered. After they had regained their spirit, the Snow Kids decided it was time for bed, since it was getting quite late and they had an early training session tomorrow. However, all of the Snow Kids were thinking how Luur got himself so tired in the first place. They all knew they had seen it somewhere before but didn't know where; apart from Rocket who had a different idea. The only time he had felt exhausted like that was when he had played Netherball -a cold shiver went down his spine at the thought- it's not possible, Rocket thought as the idea began to grow stronger and stronger in his head. 


	12. QUESTIONS THAT SHOULD NEVER BE ASKED

**I do not own Galactik Football**

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_"It's ok; it's just Ahito waking up. I'll go and check on him now."_

_"Thran's got a girlfriend."_

_"I can't tell them Corso, I just can't."_

_"Come on Rocket the match is about to start."_

_"Yeah, we can so do this, we're the Snow Kids."_

**QUESTIONS THAT SHOULD NEVER BE ASKED**

There one more minute left on the clock and Tia was miles ahead in the lead; the score five –nil to her. It wasn't like the opponent was much of a challenge or anything; to be honest she could have destroyed him even more then at the moment but she just decided to tease him and play with his mind. What Tia loved the most was that he knew it; which humiliated the Pirates striker even more. Fiddling with the ball between her feet she zigzagged across the floor, Stevens found it impossible to tackle the ball away from her since the ball was just moving too fast for humans eyes to lock on to. Feeling that time was nearly running out, Tia kicked the ball in the air and jumped onto the extended knee of the other player and jumped into the air, heading the ball in the hole on the opposite side of the room. The game finished and Tia stood in the middle of the Sphere, absorbing the power she had gained from this match. A new victory, Tia cheered. However, her victory was short lived when the Pirates player spoke.

"Enjoy your victory while you can, before Rocket comes and steals it from you." The pirates star grumbled loud enough for her to hear. She instantly stopped whatever she was doing at the moment and turned towards the pirates' member to ask what he meant but he only looked at her for a second and quickly exited the sphere not giving Tia a chance to question him. This is getting insane! The blonde girl thought to herself as she left the sphere and stormed back to the private area where only she and the people that ran this place could go. Many fans stuffed pieces of paper in front of her face, trying to get an autograph from her but she just brushed them aside; she had too much on her mind to deal with. First of all was the continuous mentioning of this guy her opponents kept talking about; Rocket. Who was he and why did people keep mentioning him? It sounded like she should know this person but if she did she would know right, she couldn't just forget someone that important. It didn't matter if she knew him or not, right now she just wanted answers and right now the only place she could get them was from the purple coat man that was approaching her at the moment.

"My dear, how was the match?" Harris asked politely with a half smile on his face. In no mood for polite conversation, Tia cut straight to the point.

"Who's Rocket?" She question, for a few moments nothing was said. The man that was in charge of all of this was having trouble keeping the calm expression on his face but after a moment he managed to regain his composer.

"My dear you shouldn't fool around with other people, you're main focus should be Netherball." He grinned back at her but Tia wasn't letting it slip that easily.

"No! All these people keep mentioning him and I want to know who he is!" Tia demanded, not giving in. She was determined to find to whom this guy was everyone seemed to know and if there was any chance that she would be playing him soon since they kept telling her to beware. On the other hand, instead of getting answers like she had been hoping for, Harris just rolled his eyes and took something out of his pocket.

"I'm sorry I had to do this Tia." The man smiled sadly, pressing the big red button.

It had been three days since his last beating and only recently he had been able to move without any pain. The only comfort Artie had in his cell was the bright light that shone through the small peek hole that was at the bottom of the door. It wasn't much but it was the only thing that wasn't driving the young pirate insane at the moment. He twisted again in his space to try and stretch out his legs but the heavy chairs that weigh him down cut into his skin more. I am so bored, Artie thought when he was finally finished counting a million sheep. He was even beginning to miss the consistent telling off he and Bennet often recieved from Corso; this little fact made Artie believe that maybe he was going a little crazy. The sound of a woman's scream close by almost scared Artie to death. Curious, the young pirate made his way towards the door (despite the agonising pain that his body felt) after he managed to drag himself to the door, he lifted himself up so he could see through the gap and right in front of him lay Tia, holding the back of her neck like she was trying to claw something out of her skin. His eyes widen but his body and mind could not react to the scene in front of him. Suddenly, Tia went lump in front of him. At first, Artie thought she was dead until he saw a small movement in one of her hands. He heard someone ordering one of the guards to take her away and the next thing he knew the white hair girl disappeared out of his site. Tia! Artie thought seeing what was in front of him. The only thing he could see now were two pairs of shoes and the end of a purple coat.

"Place the mind control to maximum power; I don't want her answering back to me again or asking anymore questions about Rocket. Understand!" The man yelled and then walked off. Mind Control! Artie mind sprang into action, that explains everything I've got to get out of here and tell Sonny. He tried to move but the chains cut deeper into his skin, making fresh blood pour over the crusty old blood that was dry on his wrist. For now he needed to rest and wait for the perfect opportunity; he just hoped it came soon.

The Snow Kids nervously warmed up in the changing room as they were about to warm up, so they could play against the Xenons, they know they had already beaten them in the finals in the last cup but they were still a really good team (not to mention really scary) so they would be tough to beat. Aarch had given them a small pep talk but now he was with Clamp and Dame Simbai checking the monitors. Soon the announcement went off saying that one minute for the teams to get on to the field, everyone looked at each other with uncomfortable looks and proceeded towards the elevator that would take us on to the pitch. The team was so tense that it was possible someone on to walk along and bounce off the ball of nervousness that surrounded them. It would have continued but at this moment the universe had two things on its mind; football and making Micro-Ice look bad in front of his team mates. As the team made its way towards the elevator a robot that was carrying food whizzed around the corner and crash right into the smallest Snow Kids player.

"Can someone please tell me why Micro-Ice uniform is stained with food?" Aarch asked in a serious voice, this match was against the Xenons, they had no time to mess around. Nevertheless, it appeared Aarch was the only one that did not find this funny since everyone that was watching this match at the moment was laughing their heads off. Micro-Ice could only bite his tongue and miserably walked over to his place while the other Snow Kids player were all holding their hands over their mouths and trying to stop the snickering.

"I had a ran in with a waiter sir." Micro-Ice mumbled miserably into his headphones. Aarch could only shake his head and told the Snow Kids to get into their places. The Snow Kids stood in front of the lizard players were they began performing their dance; ending with a large roar in front of the Snow Kids faces. "Have you guys ever heard of a breath mint?" Micro-Ice joked, holding his nose with one hand and using the other to disperse the thick air around him. The Xenon in front of him bare his teeth in to a nasty sneer, making Micro-Ice back away from the reptile football player instantly. Jeez the guy can't take a little criticism, Micro-Ice thought.

"_Let the match begin!"_ Callie Mystic cheered over the micro-phone; D'jok stood facing Luur in the centre of the pitch were the ball would fly into the air any second. It was like some kind of silent staring contest had begun between D'jok and Luur as they tried to stare each other down. Suddenly, the buzzer went and the ball flew in to the air. Both football players crouch in to a jump, summoning their flux. Using all the strength they could muster they jumped into the air. D'jok barely managed to obtain the ball and quickly passed it to Rocket. Charging down the field, Rocket summon the Breath so they Xenons heat wouldn't stop him when he stormed down the field, he dodged the first defender and past the ball to Mark before he was tackled by a second defender. Mark quickly took control of the ball and headed towards the goal, ignoring Micro-ice who was waving his arms around to be notice and kicked it over to D'jok but sadly the ball was stolen by a Xenon defender before the ball had reached D'jok. The crowd boo at the poor playing displayed by the attacking midfielder but they quickly moved on as they saw the ball being passed to Luur, he race past the other player like lightening, twirling past every player that tried to steal the ball from him. Mei and Thran sent each other a quick nod and ran towards the giant reptile, hoping that if they double team mated him they could take the ball away from him but at the last moment, Luur used the heat to somersault over them. The two defenders could only look shock as he jumped over their heads. Overcoming their shock the two defenders chased after him but they were too late since Luur had already entered the penalty box and shoot, scoring a goal for the Xenon's. The Xenon fans in the crowd went crazy as their favourite striker scored a goal.

"Come on Snow Kids it's not over yet!" Rocket encourage as he made his way back to his spot ready for the next one. The players made their way back to their positions on the field and prepared to play a second round. Again, the ball shoot into the air and both strikers jumped up to get it but this time Luur was the one to take the ball.

"Come on Corso we're late." Sonny hissed at his friend as they crept behind a crowd of people in the stadium and sat down in the back seats. Looking up at the screen, Sonny was sad to see that his son's team was down by one and that it seemed the Xenon's been taking control of the game. Come on Snow Kids you can do it! He cheered silently to himself, since he didn't want to attracted attention to himself. Just then, he could see Mei summoning the Breath and charging towards the Xenon player, she slide in to a slide tackle and stole the ball away from the Xenon midfielder. Getting back to her feet again she kicked the ball to Rocket who headed towards the Xenon's net again. My sons lucky to have a girl like that Sonny smiled, as he saw the two young players throw a small smile at each other before getting their heads back in the game.

"_Wow! Look at Rocket go!"_ Callie screamed, as Rocket thundered down the pitch, dodging many opponents on his way. When he saw one of the defenders about to use the Heat on him, he quickly summon his flux and just as the Heat was about to hit him he deflected accidently on Micro-Ice and another Xenon's player. Why am I the one that always gets hit? Micro-Ice moaned in his frozen state. Nevertheless the game continued and Rocket was nearing a penalty area when Luur appeared in front of him. A small smirk appeared on the captain's face as he quickly kicked the ball to D'jok before Luur can tackle the ball from him. Gaining control of the ball, D'jok aimed the ball in to the goal; making the two teams tie. The Xenon's heat melted away just in time for Micro-Ice to join his team mates in celebration. However, the good mood didn't last long when knew the end of the first half Luur scored a second goal.

"Dude my arms hurt!" Thran complained as he fell on to the couch. The other Snow Kids moaned in agreement as they too collapsed on the other seats. They had used their entire strength stand their ground against the giant reptiles but during the end they were exhausted and weren't able to stop the last goal.

"Great work Snow Kids!" Aarch smiled as he walked into the dressing room, making everyone look at him with confused expressions on their faces. "You played well out there, I know you're tired so get some rest and try to play like that in the second half." Some of the Snow Kids were going to get up and cheer with him but then they remembered their feet really hurt and immediately sat down again.

In the stands Sonny and Corso waited patiently with all the other galactic football fans as they waited for the two teams to get back on the field. Unlike some on the nervous fans that were dreading the defeat of their favourite Snow Kids; the pirates' captain was very calm. In the past the players had suffered tougher comebacks then this and he knew they just needed a rest to get them back on their feet again. Despite his wishes to watch the rest of the game was cancelled went his phone began to ring.

"What is it Bennet?" Sonny asked when the picture of the rock and roll pirate appeared on his screen.

"Stevens has returned and he's got some interesting information you might want to hear." Bennet answered. The old pirates' captain suppressed a deep sigh, I hope D'jok will forgive me for leaving, he thought as he gestured to Corso to move, since they had some answers they needed to check out.


	13. THE SECOND PART OF THE MATCH

**Sorry it's taken me so long to do this chapter, had a lot of writers block. Anyway a lot of people have voted that they want Mei pregnant but now I can't decide where to put the whole revealing bit in so I've got another poll up for you to decide. Enjoy :) **

**I do not own Galactik Football**

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_"Enjoy your victory while you can, before Rocket comes and steals it from you."_

_"No! All these people keep mentioning him and I want to know who he is!"_

_"Place the mind control to maximum power; I don't want her answering back to me again or asking anymore questions about Rocket. Understand!"_

_"Can someone please tell me why Micro-Ice uniform is stained with food?"_

_"__Wow! Look at Rocket go!"_

**THE SECOND PART OF THE MATCH**

After a much needed rest (plus, some of Dame Simbai's magical healing potions) gave the Snow Kids the energy boost they required to get them prepared for the second half of the match. Already the young adults were getting onto the platform that took them to the pitch. The crowds was going wild as both of their favourite teams returned to the field, the two opposing teams were giving each other threatening glares as they walked to their positions; the most intense were shared between Rocket and Luur. It seemed like time had slowed down as they walked past each other; you could feel the friction spark off between them as the waves of energy bounced inedible them. However, everything returned to normal as soon as they were apart from each other, though people could sense that this was only the beginning of more rough things to come. The buzzer went off and the football flew into the air. Summoning their flux, Luur and D'jok both jumped up into the air and chased after the ball. Determined to put his team back into the lead, D'jok battled ferociously for the ball and through sheer luck managed to scrap the ball away from Luurs feet. He quickly sent the ball to Mark who raced down the fear with it but before he had time he passed it to one of his team mates, a Xenon defender attacked him from the side and stole the ball.

"Get your head in the game Mark!" Aarch shouted through the head piece to the temporary midfielder. Mark made a stubborn groan before quickly chasing after the defender, who had already passed the ball to another player. The ball nearly reached the Snow Kids ball of Thran hadn't tackled the player and sent it to Mei, who quickly sent it to Rocket. Storming up the field with the ball, lots of the Xenons tried to steal the ball off him but he was moving too fast for them to catch them. Summoning his flux, he jumped into the air and slammed the ball towards D'jok who had also summoned the Breath as well and using all his strength kicked the ball towards the net. At first, everyone thought it was a wild shot but the ball began to curve suddenly, turning into D'jok signature curve ball move. The Xenon goalie was too stunned to reacted fast enough, allowing the ball to slam in behind the back of the net.

"_Goal for the Snow Kids!"_ Callie Mystic cried out in the microphone with the roar the crowd to follow soon after. Now the two teams were tied. A camera shot of Luur showed he was not in a good mood.

"Why do I suddenly have a feeling I should be very, very afraid?" Micro-Ice muttered with Thran and D'jok standing next to him, all looking up at the screen. D'jok remained silent with a concern and determined look on his face as he continued to look at the screen with Luur face. On the other hand, Thran just slapped Micro-Ice around the head.

"You're scared; I and Mei are the ones who have to stop him!" Thran cried out at the young attack as realisation dawn on the smallest Snow Kid.

"I make sure I'll say something good at your funeral." Micro-Ice replied, sympathising with his poor team mate's impossible situation. Meanwhile, in the coach's booth, Aarch, Dame Simbai and Clamp were also worried about from the image of Xenon they saw on the screen as well. Years of experience playing on the field and coaching the sport made all of the hairs on Aarch's neck stand up at this moment. I have a bad feeling about this, Aarch thought deeply to himself, it was a look he had seen once or twice before. He was so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed Clamp trying to get his attention.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Aarch asked, when he finally snapped out of his thoughts.

"I was just saying that the next half will be hard for them, especially if Luur mad." Clamp comment, turning back to the screen on his desk. The coach made no reply to his friend's statement and turned his mind to the match; they need to come up with a plan and quickly. Taking in the situation, Aarch quickly came up with a plan of action and began to explain to the Snow Kids.

Mike was examining the latest data he had collected from the sphere last night. He would have been faster but the images of what his device did to Tia shocked him to his core. Now, he was beginning to have second doubts about this whole plan that Harris was hatching. He blamed himself for getting himself in this mess; the young scientist had been fooled to believe that it was some big, top secret, project that Technoid was working on – now there was no way he could get out of it; or was there? His eyes snapped to the set of camera shots that Harris had placed all over the underground of Genesis Staduim. The second one from the type right was the one that had his attention. In the corner of the cell, Mike could see the beaten up Pirate, huddling in the corner (possibly planning some amazing escape) not taking his eyes off the speck of light on the floor. It just might work, the lab assistant thought, as a plan became to form in his head. The plan he had come up with was rather risky and almost back out of it until he eyes zoomed towards the centre of the screen, where Tia still slept in her poor made bed. It wasn't like he was in love with her or something like that; he had decided that he wasn't going to put his life above hers and maybe even the whole galaxy. With this in his mind, Mike was determined to get his arrangements together...

The hissed in pain as they felt the Breath and the Heat collide between each other. Ever since they had made their second goal against the Xenons, the Snow Kids had focused all their energy in putting on a defensive barrier between their goal and the Xenons; Luur especially. The Xenon striker was determined to beat the Snow Kids this time for the cup and the Snow Kids were determined to stop him. D'jok and Micro-Ice felt a bit guilty about letting the guys do all the work but Aarch had strictly ordered them to stay back and rest when the time came for them to finish the match. The tension and fierceness of the match grew more and more as the seconds went by. Mei and Thran feet would have probably fallen off by now if they didn't have the strength of mind and adrenaline pumping through their bodies like wild fire. The mid-fielders were suffering a little less (barely) since they had to make sure they knew the best times to lay back and rest, then to help stop the attacking Xenon players. Rocket shot another glance at the clock before chasing after a Xenon's player who had the ball. He slide tackle in front of the player but was too late to grab the ball front him since the Xenon saw him in time and jumped over him and kicked the ball to another one of his team mates. Seeing another on coming advance, Mei began charging towards the opposing striker. The Xenon summoned the heat and threw it at the Snow Kids defender. Stopping in her tracks, Mei threw up her flux just in time to deflect it. This moment of hesitation gave the striker enough time to run passed Mei, getting closer to the goal. She was just about to yell at Thran to watch out when she noticed what she had deflected the Heat to; on poor Thran. Oops! Was all the football beauty could think of as she went running after the striker. However, the striker had already passed to Luur, who was speeding towards the Snow Kids goal. Horrifying thoughts run through Yuki mind as she saw the situation unfold before her. I can do this! She told herself firmly after kicking the negative thoughts our of her head. Summoning his flux, Luur kicked the ball as hard as he could towards the goal. Running out of the goal, Yuki jumped up and grabbed it with both hands. Gripping on to the ball with her dear life as she went spinning around in the air, she could hear Aarch shouting at her to hold on through the ear piece but her mind wasn't really focused on what he was saying to her; she was getting to dizzy from all the swirling around. As soon as her feet touch the ground again, Yuki forced all her weight into pushing the ball away from the line. As soon as she felt herself stop moving she looked up to see she just barely kept the ball from going over the line. A big sigh of relief was heard all over the whole galaxy.

"Alright Snow Kids I think it's time to put our plan into action." Aarch spoke into the microphones, after her noticed it was nearly the end of the second half of the match. Knowing it was time to shine, D'jok and Micro-Ice sent knowing looks to each other and made their way to their positions. Playing with the ball in her hands, the Snow Kids goal keeper waited for the signal before kicking the ball back into the field. Mei took control of the ball instantly before passing the ball to Rocket who then passed it up high were the screen showing the score was. On top D'jok was standing there, summoning the Breath. Once the ball was high enough he jumped for it and kicked it towards Micro-Ice, sending the flux with it (a little thing they had picked up from the second galactik cup) the young strikers flux immediately reacted with the similar energy and connected the ball and the player together. Seeing what was happening the Xenon's players tried to surround D'jok but they were all tired from the heavy playing they had just done and could only watch in wonder as D'jok pulled the ball towards his feet and with one mighty kick sent it flying towards the Xenon's goal. Everyone watched in wonder as the ball (surround in the breath) went whizzing towards the bottom corner of the goal. The goalkeeper gasped in surprised as he tried to follow the balls movements, before making a giant leap. Everything seemed to slow down as the ball spun towards the net and the goalie's hands reaching out to stop it. As the goal keeper of the Xenons hit the floor, dust covered the football player and the ball. A moment of silence descended over the stadium as the buzzer announcing the end of the game sounded. Slowly, the dust from the floor began to drift away, showing the ball still spinning at the back of the net. Seeing this on the big screen the Snow Kids stood in shock for a while before Micro-Ice and D'jok finally looked at each other and started dancing crazily around with joy. Soon, after the cover of shock had magically fallen off the other Snow Kids they started dancing around in joy as well.

"WOW! Another victory for the Snow Kids!" Callie Mystic cried out, as she jumped out from the seat, as her to co-anchors watched the famous reporter sing the Snow Kids chant; looking unamused and amused at the same time.

Harris sat comfortably in the sofa chair in his office back at Technoid. He should have been at the game but he had arrived half an hour late, so out of anger, the Duke had sent him back in disgrace to catch up with paper work. Honestly, that was actually what he was doing. He knew he had to stay in the Duke good books so he had access to all the money and experiment he needed for his little secret. But for some reason he always seemed to be distracted by his other work that he had been planning ever since the last cup and now that he was so close he was starting to forget what was important. The look that the Duke had shot him this afternoon reminded Harris what was the main goal objective in his life and how he was going to get there. He kept reminding himself that he only had to remain the well-behaved assistant for a little bit longer; then he would show everyone why they should fear him.

Rocket was happy that the team had won their match but it wasn't the same without Tia; all the excitement was too much so he needed to get away from his team mates for just a short while. They were getting closer and closer to the cup finals now and no news about Tia. Since Rockets last confrontation with the pirates' leader, he had heard no news from them – they had been keeping to themselves. It was driving him crazy. He was still mad with himself for getting Tia into this situation in the first place but what really got him pissed was that he didn't know how to help her now. He had gone out sometimes, searching for her but then he would bang it into his head that she was kidnapped, why the hell would she walking around the streets so freely. His heart burned every time he thought about his angel being scared or in pain. As soon as they were both together again he was going to make sure nothing ever happen to her again and that he would let nothing stop him from protecting her.

"Worrying about your girlfriend I see." Luur low growl caused an icy shock to run through Rockets blood stream. Carefully, the mid-fielder turned to face the half human, half lizard footballer who had called out to him. Ever since Netherball, Rocket and Luur had a very competitive relationship towards one another – so there was never an atmosphere without some tension in it.

"Why do you care?" Rocket snapped back at the giant lizard, not wanting to get involved with an argument with Luur right not. The Snow Kids captain got even more pissed off when a sly smirk expanded across the Xenons face; revealing shark like teeth. It almost made Rocket shiver but he forced back the icy feeling at the last minute.

"I care Rocket because I know where she is?" Luur answered with a cold grin on his face, making Rocket's blood boil in rage.


	14. FURY

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_"Why do I suddenly have a feeling I should be very, very afraid?"_

_"You're scared; I and Mei are the ones who have to stop him!"_

_"I was just saying that the next half will be hard for them, especially if Luur mad."_

_"Alright Snow Kids I think it's time to put our plan into action."_

_"WOW! Another victory for the Snow Kids!"_

_"I care Rocket because I know where she is?"_

**FURY**

Fury burned through Rocket's body and he couldn't control the burst of anger that shot through him as he launched towards the giant creature. It was obvious that Luur had not been expecting this attack, since the heavy weight muscle was easily knocked against the wall; with Rocket holding his hands around the lizards' throat. The whole suddenness of the attack left the green beast so stunned that it was already too late to fight back, since the oxygen was being cut off. Is this it? Luur wondered to himself, as his whole life flashed before his eyes. However, somehow Rocket snapped out of his rage and instantly stepped back. Letting go of the Xenon, this opponent collapsed on to the floor, directing all the energy towards his lungs, Lurr forced his body to grab every sense of oxygen that surrounded him. Rocket waited for him to regain enough focus for him to hear his threat.

"If you're a part of this, if you're the reason that she's hurt her... you will be sorry." He hissed at the Xenon before crouching down in front of him. "Where. Is. She!" the furious lover demanded, slamming his angry fist against the wall to make a point. The alien's eyes were still lit with horror at the beast that Rocket had become, he was even more frightening then the time he played in the Sphere.

"She's down in Deep Genesis playing Netherball." The giant lizard strutted out quickly. The anger from Rocket's face drain all of a sudden to a ghostly pale as shock covered his whole face. Just as the Xenon thought he could make a run for it, the captains turned from confusion to intense fury. Again, the Xenon slammed against the floor wall again. But this time it didn't go too far since the Snow Kids walked out of their dressing room to walk in to the action.

"Rocket! Stop!" Mei shouted being the first to take in the situation but her cries seemed to have no effect. "D'jok do something!" She cried out, shaking her fiancés arm as hard as she could to snap him out of his shock. The red football player quickly snapped out of his shock and dragged Thran along with him to help him pull the two opposing players apart.

"What the hell is wrong with you man?" D'jok shouted at the captain of his team, as he still fought to try and kill the Xenon who had suddenly snapped out of his fear and was now moving as quickly as he could out of Rocket dangerous reach. This shocked the Snow Kids even more, to see the fierce star striker of the Xenon's run away like a frighten child. The defender and the striker nearly fell over when their friend, nearly yanked out of the grasp and go after the giant lizard. However, they were just able to hold him back long enough for the alien to escape and for Rocket to calm done - if only a little bit. The midfielder some managed to struggle free from his team mates grip. "What happen?" D'jok repeated, wanting to understand what was going on. It wasn't every day... well, never had he ever seen Rocket in this state before. Everyone could only watch as Rocket's body shake with intense fury still. They could only wait and watch as they let their captain shake off the rest of his anger. It seemed like years had passed before Rocket seemed to be back to himself; almost. Before the striker could gather up the courage to ask what was going on, his lost friend spoke.

"This can't be true, it just can't." He muttered to himself before punching his fist into the wall and ran off, leaving the Snow Kids terrified.

"What is going on?" Harris demanded as he stepped through the dark hall ways and into the lab that had at least five men puzzling over one computer. Poor Mike was left to stand alone against his boss, as the others huddled back into the corner. The young scientist could not stop himself from shivering a little, even when the purple coat man stood just a few steps away from him. Quickly, he started flipping through his notes and found something to read out.

"There's some kind of bug in the system, we're trying to get rid of it but with will take time, I'm afraid we won't be able to run the system tonight, we'll have to cancel..." He was unable to finish his sentence because he was stunned when his boss slammed his fist on one of the working desks. It was then he realised that the other scientists had disappeared and he was alone in the room. His boss walked back and forth around the room, trying to burn off his frustration.

"Are you sure there's nothing we can do?" Harris questioned, leaning against the main computer to get a better look at what might wrong, only for the keyboard to go all electric and do a little explosion.

"I'm afraid not sir, we'll have to clean out the system if you want to continue this sir." Mike mumble nervously but Harris was use to it and just managed to hear it.

Rocket was so lost that he gave up trying to find his way back to his room since his mind was too cloud with sorrow and anger to think straight. He didn't know where he was and he didn't care. All he knew was that he was leaning against some kind of alley wall and that screaming pain was shouting for medical attention. Cradling his broken arm he cried until he could cry no more. He didn't care if people thought it was un-manly of him to do this; his heart had just been painfully shredded in half, making it hard for him to breathe. His body went lifeless, as all his weight slumped forward against his jeans. It Seemed like time had left him and he was stuck forever in a black hole, feeling like this forever. That is, until he finally noticed trying to talk to him. It took him so long to realise because her forehead was still pounding and only just began to settle down. Slowly, he lifted his eyes up just be met with calm blue ones.

"Come on, we better get you out of here." Mei suggested, gently taking him by the arm and began leading him away. Rocket had no choice but to follow, since his system was still in shut down mode, so a little leadership from Mei was helpful.

"Man...if... I hadn't made...those...stupid others...picks...I would be dead... by now!" Artie grunted to himself, as he held the heavy chains close to his mouth with a tooth pick in his mouth; trying to unlock the chains that held him in this cell. Sweat ran down his face at all the effort he was putting into holding his wrist steady –which was not an easy job in his state. One last twist, the pirate encouraged himself and he made the lapse go around one more time. There was a click and the metal clamps finally realised themselves and dropped to the floor. Artie sighed in relief as he rubbed his sore wrists. Inspecting them in the dim light, the pirate could see they were swollen but nothing to serious; they were still useable. Now just the feet, Artie smirked as he got straight to work, it would be much easier now that he was using his hands instead of his mouth to unhook the little gadgets inside the keyhole. Just as the two chains were realised from around his ankles, the light from the doorway started flickering. Then the cursing of the guards came rattling down the corridor as they ran up and down the corridor. This is my chance! Artie thought urgently, as he quickly began testing how good his muscles were. They seemed stiff but he could walk on them at least. Taking a few steps towards the door, Artie tested how far and how fast he could move them before he started pick locking the cell door. Obviously, none of the security guards seemed to remember that Artie still existed, since he was able to sneak out without anyone coming to check up on him. Not to mention he was thankful for it to, since he had to stop a few times because his lungs were hurting way too much. He had almost reached the end of the corridor when...

"Hey! Stop!" A guard cried out from the other side of the all, recognising who Artie was. Biting his tongue to hold back the pain that was soaring through his whole body, Artie began to run or tired to at least; his left leg was still weak and refused to wake up. As his heart beated wildly, he dragged himself around bending corners and up sloping corridors. His breathing was getting more ragged the further he travelled and he could hear the guards catching up with him. Turning another corner he tried to escaped them by leading them through twisted paths but something blocked his ability to go anywhere else; a cave in to be exacted. For the first time in fifteen years, the pirate began to panic. There was no way he could head in another direction, not in his sorry state. Searching the area around him, his eyes rested on an air duck near the carnage. He could taste copper on his tongue as he dragged himself towards the rumble and started to climb. Since when did climbing become so bloody difficult, Artie swore to himself, as he legs protested to the amount of lifting and support he had to do. But despite all his pain the determined man somehow made it to the top. He punched the vent shaft open and attempted to pull himself in. However, he heads were so sweaty from all the hard work that when his hand grabbed on to the ledge it slipped. Better to die then face them again, he thought to himself as he began falling towards ground. Out of nowhere, he felt something grab on to his wrist and quickly yanked him up. At first he couldn't take in what had happen, since he head was whizzing and his eyes were blurring but once they settle he found himself looking back at him because of his reflection in Bennets glasses.

"Oh man! Am I happy to see you guys again." Artie smiled, as he looked around to see Corso and Sonny also surrounding him. However, the trauma of the day finally got to him and he vision went black.

"Does that feel a bit better?" Mei questioned when she placed a bag of ice on Rocket's out stretched. The captain only gave her a slight nod in response, staring mindlessly at his jarred hand. She managed to hold back the deep sigh that was threatening to escape her and focused on un-rolling the bandaged box she kept hidden in one her draws. What she really should have done was taken him straight to Dame Simbai office but Thran had informed her that the medic was busy with Ahito. Besides, she had first aid training and after having a look at his hand she could tell it was badly bruised but nothing more; she was no Dame Simbai but she could sought this out at least. Expertly, she took the ice pack away from him quickly to bandage up his hand and place the ice back again. Mei was good at fixing broken hands and cleaning up scratches but this was completely different. Seeing the broken look in his eyes, she honestly couldn't help but fill she was playing doctor with her dollies like when she was seven. He just sat there, not moving. If it wasn't for the puffy red eyes and tears streaks that cleared part of the dirt away from his face, she wouldn't have thought that he had half of a litre of emotion in him.

"You're staring at me." Rocket suddenly commented, making Mei almost jump. He hadn't even looked up at him. Geez and I thought Maya was meant to be the professional psychic, Mei couldn't help but laugh to herself, despite the situation. She knew that this must have seemed weird to a lot of people (if anyone was here to witness it anyway) but back after they had just won the galactik cup for the second time, something happened between Tia and Mei.

_The tall beauty was strapping another black heel to her foot when Tia came out the bathroom with just a robe on and a towel wrapped around her head. Looking up for a few moments, Mei couldn't help but be surprised that for once Tia looked... relax. When she first thought Rocket would come she thought that Tia would be over the moon but ever since her best friend's lover had come she seemed nothing but tense all the time. Not to mention how confusing their relationship seemed to be now. Every time Mei walked past Rockets bedroom she could either hear them arguing or passionately making love; sometimes it was even too hard to tell the two apart. Now, her friend/team mate seemed not to have a care in the world, as she fell on to her bed and picked up some book she had gotten from the library that day. _

"_You're happy." Mei couldn't help but point out since she needed to be sure. Tia just lowered the book down just enough for her eyes to be seen over the top of it but that didn't stop the beautiful defender catching the glitter in her eyes._

"_Rocket's over his parent's house tonight, so that just gives me some time to myself for a little while." Tia smiled before directing her eyes back to her book. The modal couldn't help but find what Tia had just said a little, since the mid-fielder liked spending her time with her boyfriend. Seeing the confusion on Mei's face, Tia began to explain. "For the past few weeks I've either been arguing with him or have been letting him fuck me senseless." So I noticed, Mei couldn't help but think; nevertheless, she kept her mouth shut about her team mate's activities." I need a break." Tia finished off as she snuggled back into her pillows and popped the book in front of her face. The defender knew it wasn't a physical action that had just exhausted her friend but the drama behind everything as well. Tia was the strongest person Mei had ever met, if she had to do this with D'jok she didn't know if she could do it. This began to make her wonder what if Tia wasn't around anymore to look after him and if Rocket ever did anything to himself it wouldn't just be a horrible for everyone but it was a betrayal of friendship to Tia. _

From that day on Mei decided that she would do anything she could to help Rocket anyway ay possible. It may have sounded like a weird promise but Tia was her best friend; she couldn't let all of Tia's hard work go to waste.

"You're staring at me again." Rocket noted, still not looking up and making Mei almost jump to the roof again –she was not going to get use to this.


	15. THE DARKNESS IN THE SHADOWS

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

"Rocket! Stop!"

"What the hell is wrong with you man?"

"Oh man! Am I happy to see you guys again."

**THE DARKNESS IN THE SHADOWS**

Tia's body was bursting with volcanic energy. She had not had a chance to let out her blood lust in a very long time since Netherball was cancelled last night and her body cried for the power of adrenaline through her veins. If the infantile scientist – Mike - had not given her some kind of sedative to put her to sleep, she believed that half of the Netherball stadium would have been destroyed by the angry rampage she would of caused if she had been set loose. Now her sick body was reaching out for the cheers and the cries from the audience she would receive tonight, to revive her from the dreading sickness that spread through her body. Tia wondered who was going to be her opponent. She hoped it was someone good because the last players had not been satisfying enough for her standards and having doubled the determination and aggressiveness then the other nights, it would have to be someone good –really good- to maintain her needs. Who knows? Maybe if she was lucky she might get to face this 'Rocket' person that everyone was on about. A spark of pain at the back of her neck from the night before remained her that she wasn't suppose to be thinking of this guy but she couldn't help it. Something about this person fascinated her to no end and she was dying to play against him.

The young pirate could feel himself waking up in a warm and familiar place. Even though his whole body was in pain, he could feel that his hands were no longer chained down or felt like he had been thrown in to a bizarre and uncomfortable position. Have the bad guys finally decided to turn nice or something, Artie wondered, as he tried to remember what happen last time he was conscience. Slowly, his heavy eyes lids began to open and for once his eyes opened up to a room filled with light. As soon as his eyes became accustomed to the brightness he moved his head a little to examine the room. Was it all just a bad dream? The pirate wondered when he realised he was back in his room. However, his open had come to a complete stop when he tried to move and his whole body screamed with pain. Nope! Defiantly real, Artie smiled, liking the fact he was some place safer but how he got here he still couldn't place in his memory. Just then the door whooshed open and Bennet walked into the room.

"Hey you're alive!" Bennet cheered and slapped his friend on the back, only making Artie wince in pain. "Sorry old boy didn't mean to hurt you." The older pirate apologised, as he grabbed a chair and plonked himself into it.

"At least the pain you cause wasn't international." Artie cursed as he rubbed the back of his shoulder. This friend only laughed but Artie could sense the attempted was only half-hearted. "I'm surprised you guys actually came and got me, I thought you would be celebrating." The young pirate tried to joke with his fellow partner in crime, who returned a sad smile back to him.

"Well, there was for a short while but we kind of started to miss you and besides, we outlaws got to stick together!" Bennet smiled, making Artie grin even more.

"Bennet! You were supposed to tell us if Artie had woken up yet." Corso snapped, as he and Sonny worked into Artie room. The cocky pirate held his hands up in surrender, while the joker tried to hold back his laughter since it was very rare that Bennet got told off; it was mostly always poor Artie. He was glad to see some things hadn't changed in his absence, for example, Corso moody like behaviour. However, the lieutenant's dark glare soon turned towards the beaten up pirate.

"You, what were you thinking? Abandoning your post without telling anyone!" Corso demanded with his hands on his hips and tapping his foot in anger. If Artie wasn't so scared right now he would of joke how his commander looked like an annoyed mother telling off her son for running off done the road to grab and ice-cream when he wasn't meant to.

"Sorry but I heard two ex-wamba players talking about Tia and I had to check it out." Artie argued defensively, trying to put his actions in the clear. "I didn't know they would lead me back into the Netherball Stadium." Not to mention the fact that however was running the operation this time actually had the brains to add security guards to the surrounding area; really, really big security guards. Nevertheless, this seemed to have no affected on the one eyed pirate. But thankfully at this moment, Sonny decided to jump in.

"Sonny is there anything you could tell us about what's going on, like how they managed to get Tia to play." Sonny questioned, constructing all the horrible memories of what happened back where he had been captured and what Artie saw one night when he made himself look through the gap at the bottom of the door.

"Trust me, you are not going to like most of the stuff I'm about to tell you." Artie sadly answered, making all of the pirates exchange worried looks.

Today had been so stressful for D'jok. First he had to worry about the match and now he had to find out where his captain had disappeared off to. Well, tried anyway. He had given up when he checked nearly every area he could think off in Genesis of where Rocket might have disappeared off to. Now he had to go and inform Aarch that his nephew had attacked the Xenon's main striker and had vanished off the place of the Earth; he could honestly say he was not looking forward to telling him. But first, he wanted to check in on his girlfriend (plus secret fiancé) she and Tia were best friends, maybe there was a romantic place that Tia and Rocket liked to visit and she may have mentioned it to his girlfriend. It was long short, since he couldn't really picture those two getting up to trouble together (how could he not, since he mostly heard them doing it in the bed room for four hours straight, why would they need to do it in public?) but he was out of choices and decided it was worth a try at least. He politely knocked and waited for the door to open before stepping. Before he could say anything, Mei raised her finger to her lips before pointing to the sleeping form on the other bed. His mouth nearly hit the fall when he realised it was Rocket that slept peacefully on the other side of the bed.

"Why didn't you ring and tell me he was here?" D'jok cried out, forgetting he was meant to be quiet. His girlfriend only gave him a confused look in response as she placed the magazine she had been reading on to the bedside table.

"I called you like three times but you never picked up." She struck back with a pissed off expression on her face. Quickly, the footballer, checked his watch to see that his girlfriend was right and she had actually tried to call him, making D'jok feel sheepish. He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassement before gliding over to his girlfriend and kissing her sweetly on the mouth.

"Sorry, phone was on silent." He shrugged, only earning him an half hearted slap on the shoulder.

"Thanks for having some faith in me." Mei replied sarcastically, earning an apologising shrug from her lover, she knew her boyfriend's ego was too big to do anything else, so she let this indecent slide just this once – especially since Rocket was in the room and she didn't want to risk waking him up. Knowing that Rocket was safe, D'jok decided he wouldn't bother Aarch until he found out what had happened between Luur and his captain. The couple laid down on the bed and settle for cuddling, since they couldn't get up to anything more intermit with the sleeping person on the other bed. Well, D'jok had suggested that they could do it in the bathroom if they turned the shower on but this only earned him a punch in the chest; he was a guy, he had to try at least. Not that he was complaining or anything, he liked this too and the way that Mei played with his hair somehow calmed him. It had been quiet for a long time and the combing of his hair had stopped, when D'jok looked down he saw his princess had fallen asleep in his arms. A large grin spread across his face at how beautiful he looked and sooner or later he fell back asleep.

Thran watched his brother with worried eyes, as he watched his brother sleeping. He had made some improvements over the last couple of days but sometimes he still had trouble getting up the energy to talk sometimes. The twin could feel his head dropping lower and lower as he found it harder to keep his head up. So much had happened today and now the after effects were keeping in. Right now, he was debating whether he should go to his room and have a quick nap but he couldn't stand the thought of leaving his brother. His body senses were so thrown off that he didn't hear the door opened and someone walking in. In all fairness, he wouldn't have noticed they were there if they didn't shake a cup of coffee in his face.

"Looks like Mr Defender needs a pick me up." The rock star smirked, as soon as Thran looked up to notice his girlfriend standing next to him. A giant grin spread across his face as the defender thanked her and she sat in the seat next to him.

"How did you get in here?" He enquired as he took a sip of his mocha. The famous singer looked back to the window and pointed towards the peeping eyes of Yuki, Mark and Micro-Ice before they disappeared from site. "Oh." Thran answered and they both laughed. Understanding that Thran needed some time to be with his brother, the girlfriend cuddled up into his arms and watched her boyfriend's twin brother peacefully. Clary knew they were twins but she found it shocking with the resemblance between the two, apart from the slightly longer hair Thrans brother had they were actually the same; that and the fact one of them spent most of his time sleeping more than the other. The last thought seemed to go against her when the sleeping eyes lashes of the goalie slowly began to flutter open. His dark eyes stared into space for a few moments before he turned his head towards Clary and Thran. As soon as his eyes lay on the rock star beauty, the older twin nearly jumped up in shock.

"So... It's true." Ahito smiled cheekily towards his younger brother, who in return just shot him a dirty look back but they could both see the laughter that sparkled in the defenders eyes. The oldest of the twins was eager to get to know the special girl that had entered his brother's life.

D'jok awoke to find the love of his life still asleep in his arms; despite not wanting to move and possibly wake his beloved up his arm was beginning to cramp up. Slowly, he began sliding his arm from under her neck, using his other firm hand to support her and made sure she was comfortable before sitting up fully himself. However, he did not realised he was not the only one awake after he stopped wiping the sleepy dust from his eyes and stared onto Tia's bed, which had Rocket laying on it and staring at the ceiling.

"Your girlfriend has good handy work." Rocket commented emotionlessly, holding up his hand to reveal the fist he had used to punch the wall with in neat wrapped up bandages. It took the red headed striker a few minutes to remember why his captain was doing in his room and what he was talking about before it hit D'jok hard on the head with a hammer.

"Well, he dad's a doctor so she picked up a few things." D'jok shrugged like it was nothing new –which it wasn't. The striker wasn't sure what to say to his heart broken friend. With his girlfriend asleep, the young striker decided it was time to ask the slightly older mid-fielder what had happened between Rocket and Luur. D'jok knew he had to word this carefully but he couldn't think of a way to just gently tip-toe on to the subject without fireworks flying all over the place. After a while he decided just to get straight to the point.

"What happened between you and Luur?" The red head asked bluntly, he watched carefully as Rocket continued to study the ceiling above them before answering.

"Just a mis-understanding." He replied that the event hadn't even happened. D'jok knew that if they had been starring in a young kid's animation he would have had something heavy land on his head because of the complete lack of common sense and stupidity that had arousal from this small swap of what had been said.

"Rocket! There's a difference between simple miss-understandings and then almost killing someone, now tell me what the hell happened!" The striker of the champions demanded though he almost regretted when he felt his girlfriend stir next to him. He turned to look at her and prayer that he hadn't woken her from her sleep. It wasn't until the few small movements and quite mutters on Mei's part had stopped and she settled beside him again before D'jok was sure it was safe enough to get back to the topic. When he looked back around, D'jok almost jumped out of his skin when he saw that Rocket had changed positions and was now sitting off the edge of the bed so were now even closer together. We have to put a bell on this guy or something? The star striker thought to himself, as his team mate had a deep thinking expression on his face. The young footballer almost burst out in frustration again when Rocket finally answered.

"He said Tia's been playing Netherball." He commented ever so calmly that D'jok thought he had miss heard what was being said at first. Tia, the goody two shoes girlfriend and diplomats daughter, there close team mate Tia was playing Netherball! At first the son of the pirate leader refused to acknowledge the fact the Tia he knew would do such a thing. However, as the new piece of important news began to sink in it began to make sense. Last time they all had to come face to face with this dangerous sport called Netherball they realised how seriously messed up it could make you, especially Rocket; who now hated the sport with vengeance. Plus, D'jok didn't know Luur that well but he was defiantly sure that the giant lizard wouldn't just go dancing around and telling some heartbroken fellow that the love of his life was playing the one thing he hated most in the world just for the fun of it. No, there was something else going on.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." The striker of the Snow Kids announced, jumping of his girlfriend's bed and forcing Rocket to look up so they were looking each other in the eyes. "We have to go down to the stadium and check it out." At this point, the mid-fielder had also jump off the bed and was now looking at his red headed team mate like he was crazy.

"Are you serious?" Rocket demanded a little too loudly, this time waking Mei up as she shot off the bed with a loom of utter confusion on her face. The modal blinked a few times to adjust her eye sight to the surrounding before taken in what was going on. What was going on? The beautiful defender wanted to ask when she saw the staring match that was being held between her boyfriend and her captain.

"Rocket, it's the only thing that can prove whether Tia's playing or not." D'jok told his captain firmly like he was telling a little kid off. Hearing her best friends name, Mei's heart leapt as she grabbed onto her fiancé hand. The only sign that told her that he knew she was there was from the tight squeezed he put on her hand. The defender could only watch helplessly, as a battle of will between the two team mates silently commenced.


	16. HEARTS FALL

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_"At least the pain you cause wasn't international."_

_"Trust me, you are not going to like most of the stuff I'm about to tell you."_

_"Why didn't you ring and tell me he was here?"_

_"Looks like Mr Defender needs a pick me up."_

**HEARTS FALL **

There were two things clear to any of the other guest that were hanging out around the hotel and the staff when Micro-Ice stomped past them on their way to the footballer's floor. One was that for some reason the football striker of the Snow Kids was very wet for some reason and the second was that he did not look like happy to anyone. It was late at night now and Micro-Ice, Mark and Yuki (the love of his life) had been stalking Thran and his super cool girl friend around the glamorous city of Genesis. They had all just gotten back to the hotel when Thran suddenly disappeared leaving his girlfriend to sit in the waiting area, the three team mates could not figure out where their friend had gone and continued to watch Clary as she willing signed autographs for passing fans. Since Micro-Ice had the attention span of a fish he found it hard to keep his thoughts focus and soon went off into a dream world; that was his big mistake. Un-be known to him, the defender had disappeared into the toilets and somehow managed to grab a bucket full of water and snuck up behind him. As Thran shouted hello behind them Yuki and Mark jumped and moved out of the quickly to avoid the mess they had gotten themselves into –Micro-Ice had only been able to turn his head when the water had been dumped on to his head. Now, he had no idea where his friend and his girlfriend had disappeared to because they had run off faster than a racing car with nowhere to be found and he had to suffer the annoying squeaky sound his drenched trainers made every time his foot touch the carpet surface of the hallways. Sure they shouldn't have been following them but come one, it was like Thran's first proper girlfriend and it was quite interesting to see how the new couple got along so well. As he made his way to his shared bedroom with D'jok he walked straight past the Snow Kids defenders room only to stop two paces away from it. The sound of a bed rocking and deep grunts and moans quickly caught the young trouble makers attention and suddenly a new plan was beginning to form in his head but now he had to get away from here since the noises were getting louder and it started to creep Micro-Ice out. Bolting away as fast as he could so no one would suddenly realise he presence by the door. He couldn't wait to tell his best friend the juicy news but he was disappointed to find out that the ego manic was not in the room. Probably out with Mei again! The striker grumbled, annoyed that he had no one to tell now. Deciding for at the moment that he would just dry himself off and go to bed early to dream of his sweet revenge, the Snow Kid was not worried about his best friends disappearance but would he should of realised was that he should of done.

Mei did not like this plan one bit as Rocket guided them through the dark undergrowth of Genesis. The main reason being that the whole idea was dangerous and that they were also wearing the disgusting football outfits she had ever imagine (what could she say? She was a fashion icon, it was in her blood) Rocket was dressed in his old Netherball gear and had his hair tied up again while D'jok and Mei brought to other football outfits of lower teams so they would be able to sneak into the underground stadium unrecognised. They only reason they needed this at all was when they had left early only to discover that the hallways were filled with security robots and had to double back quickly before they were caught. After finding this out her boyfriend tried to insist that she stayed behind because it was too dangerous and had even threaten to tie her to bed for the reason that she refused to stay put when her best friend needed her – not to mention the fact someone had to make sure the boys didn't get into trouble. D'jok finally gave up in the end when Rocket had pointed out it was nearly mid-night so they had to go. Regardless of the fact that she had been so determined earlier, Mei couldn't help but admit she was a little bit scare and had was holding on to her lovers hand like her life depended on it. She couldn't tell if the slimy feeling between their hands was just her nervous sweat or D'joks as well. The young woman was also starting to get afraid they were lost, since Rocket had instance this was the tunnel that all the competing members used when they were about to play and at the moment had not faced any serious problems. Her negative thoughts on Rockets sense of direction were swept away when without any warning they had stepped into an entirely new world. The room was filled with hundred –maybe thousands- of football fans crying out for blood, the room was completely made of metal and there were dangerous cables dangling from the ceilings and in the centre of the room was a white ball; it was exactly how she remember it but it felt different, almost darker. They had not moved far enough into the room to get a close look at the two players that stood by the large thing that the players played in but they able to see them both disappear into the large round object. It wasn't until the screens around the stadium switched on that pure horror gripped the bottom of her stomach. There was Tia; just… she wasn't the Tia she knew. It was even worse than the last time they had faced Rocket, who's only change was the horrible smirk that ran across his face and the aggressive look in his eyes. But Tia appearance had not just changed by those features alone. She beautiful snow white skin had turn paler then death, her lips blue like she was rotten corpse and her eyes were dark around the outside like she not slept for years. The sound of something thumping a wall was the only thing that dragged Mei's attention away from the screens.

"No!" It was barely a whisper but as Rocket stood against the cold walls and stare at the imagines of his lover in horror, the silent word crack through the strong ice of tension that surround the group. Mei turned her face away and hid in D'joks shoulder, not wanting to watch the audio any more but that did not stop the imagines floating in her head.

"Warren!" D'jok suddenly called out making Mei look up and realised her boyfriend was right. The screen now contained a large image of the tall blue man that looked like D'jok's hero. Warren! What the hell was the Lightening's star striker doing in the Sphere with Tia? Last time he was here he was trying to get Rocket out of Netherball because he disapproved of the sport and what it was it based on. Had the mighty football player finally given in to the deadly sport or was he here to right a wrong.

Woah! One of my tallest opponents so far, Tia joked secretly to herself as her head went all the way back to look up at the tall blue player that stood right in front of her. Apart from the over-confident cocky players that she had played against, this guy looked serious –she could tell he was determined to win and there was no way she was going to let that happen. A small smile spread across her face as the idea of beating this guy began to make her heart beat faster with wonder. He wasn't exactly the Rocket that everyone had been talking about but this would do; for now at least.

"I hope you'll be a changeling one blue boy, all the rest have... disappointed me." She hissed playfully at the captain of the lightening, who did not seem amused by her teasing.

"Why do you do this Tia?" The blue alien demand -his voice firm and commanding- like he was use to being listened to. Tia found the question he asked strange since she thought everyone knew the whole point of being in this cramped little room playroom was to win; to be King (or Queen in her case) of the Sphere. To do this you needed to use everything, skill, strength and bloodlust –if you did not have bloodlust then you could not do what needed to be done. Letting out a small laugh, she couldn't help but let out a small laugh at this man's strangeness and taking a step back and holding her arms out and twirled around in a circle to show the whole room.

"Isn't it obvious?" she smirked finally stopping, not showing a sign of dizziness from the spinning around she had just done just seconds ago. Taking a few steps towards him, she stepped on to her tip toes and whispered. "To have some fun." Then she laughed, like she was a five year old girl just telling her friend some secret. Nevertheless, Warren did not seem to take this too happily.

"What happened to you Tia?" Was all he could say, not just for the fact that someone like her was actually here, in this place, not after the last time or had they missed something last time she was here playing to set Rocket free. No, it was her very being; they way she looked that scared him the most. What was going on in this place? Meanwhile, Tia was just looking at him like he had lost the plot or something.

"Nothing happened to me." Tia answered, which only left a startled Tia but now a confused Warren. Nonetheless, no more could be said as the buzzer suddenly went off and the ball appeared in the middle. Both players looked down at the ball and then back up at each other right into other person's eyes. For a few seconds that seemed like a hundred years of eternity, both woman and man looked at each other, daring them to make the first move. In the end it was the striker who stroke the first blow and darted forward. Like a predator, Tia's white teeth gleamed like a wolf diving for his prey as she leaped into the centre and with both legs on either side of the ball and flipped over the star lightening player. The striker could only watch in surprise as the small girl jumped over him and started racing to the hole. Warren was quick to overcome his surprise and chased the girl. Tia had not realised how fast he really was and was not prepared when Warren skidded in front of him and kicked the ball from under and feet. Anger burst through her body as she realised her own faults and promised not to do it again. Getting her balance back into her feet, she went after him again but was not quick enough; the opposing player had already strike and scored a point. Anger tensed every muscle of her body as both players made their way back into the centre of the field. Positioning herself she braced herself for the next round. They both jumped up and down on her feet, readying themselves for the next attack. The ball appeared and both players kicked it at the same time, making it bounce into the air. All of a sudden to boxes appeared from the floors out f nowhere. Warren and Tia both took this to their own advantage and both jumped on to the boxes and then off the box, both kicked it again the mid-air. In a spare of the moment, Tia twisted her body in the air, while turning she used her other foot to kick it away from them. Tia was the first to land on her feet again and took control of the ball. Landing on his feet, Warren stood between Tia and the goal. Playing with the ball, Tia made it difficult to steal the ball back front him. A swishing noise from above caught Tia's attention and she looked up just fast enough to see a bar above her head. Making a quick decision, she grabbed the ball between her feet again and jumped up, reaching for the bar above and threw the ball with her feet towards the goal. A buzzer sounded at the alarm of another goal being scored. Leaping back on to the ground with the elegance of a gentle dancer, Tia stood to her full height (even though it was nothing compared to Warren) laughing her head off like a crazed witch, she shot the striker a dark glare before slowly making her way back to the centre. Like fighting partners, they bounced on the tip of their toes again, ready to spar. As the ball appeared both of the players raised their legs and kicked the ball so hard that it disappeared. Another ball appeared, Tia quickly placed her foot on the ball and pulled it back and ran backwards, Warren leapt in and kicked the ball from her feet into the corner, chasing after it, Tia reclaimed it again and ran it down the side of the Sphere, trying to get away from the blue alien. However, a box suddenly appeared and Tia had to leap frog over it to avoid falling over –losing the ball to Warren in the process. Pushing off her feet, she chased it after him again. Taking revenge she managed to steal the ball away by kicking the side of his ankle, causing Warren to move his foot away in agony. Tricking him she kicked the ball behind him and then pulled it back from between his legs. With a quick look she ran behind him and seeing the box was still their she kicked the ball high into the air and running as fast as she could she jumped on the box and then slammed into Warrens back, knocking him over as jumped of him and kicked the ball into the goal. When she landed back on her feet she punched her fist in the air in triumphant. But her victory was short lived as the buzzer ended the whole game. Damn it! Tia shouted, just when she was beginning to have fun as well. Turning around she saw the lightenings player having trouble getting back up on his feet. Bending her head to the side she regard him for a moment before the doors finally opened and she walked towards it. Suddenly, she stopped and slowly, she turned towards him again. Something snapped inside her then as she marched back towards him and slammed her knee into his back. The player gasped out in pain as he felt himself pinned down to the ground. Lowering herself so her mouth was close to his ear and whispered "So far you have been the best, but yet I remain undefeated!" Grabbing the side of his face she twisted his head so their eyes met. "If you ever return, make sure you're worth playing again." Just to prove she was in control she placed her tongue on the side of his face and seductively moved it up the side of his face. With all his might, Warren pulled his face away and Tia just laughed at his pity. She was unbeatable and she would make sure it remained that way.

Pure horror edged ever inch of body as Rocket watched what was in front of him. His sweet Tia had just wounded Warren and was now playing with him. It could not be real. This was what he feared, why he didn't want to come here because he knew deep down that Lurr had been right. He didn't know the lizard well but he did know he was not a liar. The doors of the sphere opened and he could see Tia's small figure walk out of it. Something over came him as he began pushing through the crowded of cheering fans. Distantly, he could here Mei and D'jok shouting at him to come back but he didn't care. He just knew he had to get to her somehow. What might have seemed impossible to any other man, would now fell to their knees in disgrace, as Rocket passed through the last barrier of the crowd and ran to her.

"Tia!" He shouted and continued shouting but still she did not make any sigh that she heard him or noticed him. Just as she was about to disappear into the darkness of an opening in the wall, he leapt forward and grabbed her arm. Before he realised what had happened he found himself flying in the air and then slamming into the floor. He felt himself black out for a second but he quickly regained focus again to find his angel staring back down at him.

"Well hello handsome, what's your name?" She smiled evilly down at him. Rocket didn't know what to say, his tongue had gone completely numb. What did she mean when she asked for his name, he was Rocket her boyfriend, surely she knew him.

"Tia, it's me Rocket." He answered, at first he thought it worked as the sign of recognition sprung up on her face.

"So you're mysterious person talks about hey." She smiled, making Rocket heart sink. She only knew him through other people but how? How was this possible? Leaning forward she placed her face against his and stroked his lips with hers before suddenly plunging her tongue into his mouth. He didn't care that it was not the right place or the right time, he didn't care that hundreds of football players were watching him. The only thing he cared about was their tongues battling for dominances. His whole body was giving into her presence. All of a sudden she left him and all he could do was look up as she sat smiling down at him. Leaning forward again she placed her mouth near her ear and spoke. "That was nice wasn't it, a kiss of death, for the next time we meet it will be in the Sphere and we shall see who the best is after all." Before Rocket had any chance to reply, she was gone, disappearing into the shadows.


	17. GONE

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_"I hope you'll be a changeling one blue boy, all the rest have... disappointed me."_

_"What happened to you Tia?"_

_"Tia, it's me Rocket."_

_"So you're mysterious person talks about hey."_

**GONE**

"Has anyone seen D'jok this morning?" Micro-Ice questioned the next morning once he woke up to find his friend not in his bed. It wasn't like it was the first time D'jok had stayed out with Mei all night but still it was a very rare sight to see after the whole 'Aarch accidently walking in on them' indecent that happened some time after the first cup, so his best friend tried to make it a habit not to sleepover. After hearing his question all of the Snow Kids –plus Clary- gave each other confused looks before shrugging back at him, since they had no idea where he was.

"I won't worry Micro-Ice, he's probably with Mei?" Yuki tried to reassure him with one of her charming smiles, it seemed to work a little bit as a small grin appeared on the small Snow Kids face but he couldn't help but think there was something terribly wrong. He decided he would give it another hour or two at least before heading off to Aarch and tell him that his best friend had disappeared off the face of the universe. But right now he had one thing that he believed was slightly more important right now and both the people he wanted revenge on were sitting on the other side of the table. He sent a dark glare towards the happy couple sitting opposite him but none of seemed to notice as Thran was too busy eating his breakfast and his rock star girlfriend looked like she was writing another song for her next single. All he had to do now was wait for the perfect moment. The only person who seemed to know that the young striker was up to something was Yuki because he had not order three servings of breakfast yet and that never happened unless his mind was on something else. Perfect! Micro-Ice suddenly cried out in joy (inside his head of course) as Thran scoped up a large amount of sugar puffs and stuffed it in his mouth.

"So Thran, what did Clary score you on your technique last night?" The small striker asked calmly, everyone froze at the table, except for Thran who was now choking on his own breakfast. Point one to me! Micro-Ice shouted, tempted to do a fist punch up in the air. Despite the situation, everyone couldn't help but laugh at Thran's reaction as he tried to get the cornflakes out of his throat. With the help of his loving girlfriend, he was able to spit the ball of food back out making everyone cringe but still laugh at the whole scene. At that point the defender sent his teammate a deadly glare that could pound a solid gold statue into the ground. Yuki was starting to get worried that her cousin might actually strangle her beloved but thankfully Clary stepped in.

"I gave him a ten out of ten." Clary smiled back at the joker, as she settled into her boyfriends embrace.

"Really?" Both Mark and Micro-Ice cried out of the same time, while Yuki just place her head on her arm and rolled her boys – honestly the boys were such perverts.

"Really." Clary repeated, nodding her head with a sly smirk on her face. "He can do the most amazing things with his tongue; I've written most of it down in song if you would like to hear it." At that point Micro-Ice had fallen out of his chair and Mark was thumping his head against the table to try and get rid of the images out of his head. Deciding it was time to step in; Yuki grabbed the collars of the boy's coats and dragged them out of the area. As soon as they had left, Clary and Thran gave each other a high five.

"A ten huh?" The football player smirked as his girlfriend laughed and kissed him on the lips to answer his question.

"Are you sure about this Dame Simbai?" Aarch questioned the medic as she was helping Ahito with his stretches. The medic of the champion football team had finally decided that it was possible for the goal keeper to get up and do some simple exercises to help build up his strength again and keep him in shape. However, Aarch thought differently as he saw the amount of sweat that was dripping down the young stars face and how his arms were shaking only after twenty minutes of work out. Not looking up from her charts, Simbai nodded and replied, "After two more of these we're do a cool down and then Ahito can get some rest." The coach breathed a sigh of relief, he still didn't like Ahito condition but he knew his friend was the best medic around and that she knew what he was doing. After the football player managed to finally finish his two other push ups he fell to the floor and rolled on to his back.

"How's my little cousin doing Aarch?" The twin smiled as he looked up at his coach. The old Akillian striker smiled at the boys enthuasam.

"She's doing very well you would be proud." The coach grinned back. At this news, Ahito jumped back on his feet seeming all healthy again suddenly.

"That's good to know coach." Ahito cried out in joy. Of course he was quite unhappy that she was out there instead of him but he wasn't going to hold it against her, besides someone had to take his place and he was rather glad it was her rather than someone else. At that moment the timer went off on the coach's watch to let him know he had training in ten minutes.

"Ok, don't work yourself to hard Ahito; I wanted to see you in the next two matches." Aarch ordered in his coach voice, the goal keeper just gave him a mock salute as Dame Simbai directed him to the next cause of action. Shaking his head slightly, Aarch moved out of the small workout room and into the hallways of the hotel they were staying in. With his mind focus on training, he couldn't help but think how the team had been doing well under the circumstances, especially for his nephew Rocket, he wanted to do his best for his nephew and wanted to help him but didn't know how, it wasn't every day that the love of your life got kidnapped and it certainly hadn't happened to him. He had been considering if he should phone his brother and his sister in law up to come over and see him but it seemed Rocket wasn't having any comfort from anyone. When did life become so hard, Aarch wondered to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to relieve himself of the tension that was building up in his muscles. Opening the doors of the training room he was surprised to see only Clamp at his station ready for their next session. Nevertheless he didn't have to wait long for his players to arrive since they all seemed to stumble in at once. Sensing something wrong, his clear sharp eyes scanned the scene in front of him. "Where are Mei, D'jok and Rocket?" The coach voice was loud and demanding as the team (or what was left of it anyway) gave each other nerves glances.

"Why do I have to carry this thing?" Bennet whined as he heaved the giant piece of machinery back into his rucksack and shoved it on to his back. The two older pirates were starting to believe the young pirate was beginning to hang out with Artie to much since only he could whine like that. Seeing the expressions Bennet sighed in annoyance, knowing they wouldn't take him seriously. "I get it, you old folk don't have the strength to do it and it's my civic duty to look out for you." With that the pirate strode out of the area. I'm not that old! Sonny wanted to yell back at him but decided against it when he re-thought his age. That was one of the experiences of being a pirate –no one knows your date of birth. Biting his tongue, he and Corso followed their team mate out of the surveillance room. They needed to hack into the security cameras to see what had happened in the sphere last night, since they had accidently ran into some unexpected Technoid robots that had been patrolling the lower levels of Genesis. It was a good thing he kept one of those magnetic gadgets in reserve otherwise they would have been history. Right now they had to depend of using the air ducks to move their way through the underground safely but it was a pain, especially if you had a giant machine to carry around with you as well. Right now, Corso and Bennet were trying to shove the computer instrument up into the opening above them. A vibration around his wrist caught the pirate leaders' attention as he lifted his arm up to answer the call.

"Clamp." The pirate greeted his best friend but he could tell by the expression on his face that the technician did not have good news.

"Sonny! Your son, Mei and Rocket have gone missing, nobody knows where they are." Clamp answered sending icy shockwaves through the old pirate's body. His gut instinct was telling him that whoever was behind Netherball was behind this other kidnapping; when he found them he was going to make the person pay.

D'jok was being torn between two emotions, one was to comfort his girlfriend who had been knocked out by a robot last night and had still not woken up and the other one was to get up and punch Rocket in the face to get him to stop pacing. His strongest emotion was tied to Mei so he made himself live through his captains walking up and down along the walls. The striker could still not remember clearly what happen. All he could remember was watching that strange scene that had happened between Tia and Rocket and as soon as she had left and he and Mei had managed to reach Rocket they had been surrounding by robots. One of them had hit Mei on the back of the head for no reason and it almost made the her lover rip of the robots head but he had been suddenly tackled by to other robots and knocked out as well. He had just woken up a minutes go and then Rocket followed soon after. He had inspected the wound to check there was no blood but he was still worried since she had still not woken up and it was beginning to frighten him. Meanwhile, Rocket's nervous system was going into overdrive. A part of him was afraid of the message she had left him but another part of him just wanted to find her and screw her against the wall right now. He couldn't understand why he was feeling like this, he should want to get her out of this place so they could live happily ever after but a part of him liked it. There had been something delightful about the passionate make out session they had shared in front of most of the football players in the galaxy, he was beginning to fear his Netherball side was beginning to rear its ugly head again. Why does everything have to be so difficult? He wanted to scream out loud but kept it locked up inside. It wasn't just his hormones he was worried about it was the fact that she had no idea who he was as well. How could you just forget someone you've known for eight years? Whatever it was it also had to be the reason why she was playing Netherball. The other questioned that had recently visited his mind was why did someone want to make her play Netherball in the first place. It made no sense; there wasn't any point to the why she was this. The sound of the locks of the door clicking open startled them and the door flew open, bright light shone through the door, hurting both D'jok and Rockets eyes since their minds had just grown accustomed to the darkness. In the way stop two robots.

"You will come with us!" The robot pointed out arm towards the prisoners. D'jok hugged Mei towards his chest in a protective manner while Rocket just stood his ground. No one made any kind of movement. "You will come with us." The robot repeated and shoot Rocket in the stomach with a stunned. Crouching over in pain a gasp of surprise left his body as collapsed on to the ground.

"D'jok." Mei's faint voice whispered out of nowhere, that even her lover wasn't sure if his mind was playing tricks on him. Looking down, he saw that Mei's eyes were beginning to flutter open and take in her surroundings. No explanation could be said as the guard approached him and pointed his gun at D'jok chest. Poor Mei could only look up in terror had last night's events started to dawn back on her. Slowly, everyone began to make their way back on their feet and followed the metal machines out of their holding cells. The lights in the corridors seemed to grow ten times bright as they made their way through the corridors. D'jok kept an iron grip on his love as they made their way past other guards patrolling the halls and around corners. It seemed like the place was an endless maze until they came to a double door. The whole room was covered in machines that were beeping with activity and scientist scurrying across the room and back. Despite themselves, the Snow Kids couldn't help but be amazed by the level of high equipment that was in this room. They followed the guards straight to the back of the room where a man with a dark coat and hood stood with a nerdy looking scientists who was reading something of the clipboard he was holding. At the sound of their approach, the hooded figure turned to confront his new guests.

"Ah good you are all awake." The man's sleek voice hissed, making the three young adults shiver. The man did not seemed amuse that they did not return his greetings but honestly what did he except. The footballers sent him dark glares but the hooded figured tried not to let this affect him. However, he did not like how the famous striker stare was similar to his pirate leader glare. Like father like son as they say, Harris thought to himself as he smirked under his hood. "Not in a talkative mood are we, well I guess it doesn't matter, you three have other places to be." He smirked and signalled to the men that had been hiding in the shadows to advance forward. With the speed that the Snow Kids found unimaginable the men lunged forward and separated them.

"Mei!" D'jok cried out as he struggled against the man's gripped but this resulted in the robots shooting him in the stomach again which caused him to bend over in agony.

"D'jok!" His lover cried out when she saw him attacked him front of him, the second robot was about to do the same thing to her but the hood figure launched forward and knocked the metal arm out the way.

"Not her you fool." The man snapped, as the robot muttered it apologises. Turning back to her, he showed her a sicken smile. "We have other plans for you my dear." The defenders eyes widen in horror, as the guards pulled her away. Both D'jok and Rocket tried fight from their captures grasp but for scientist the men seemed to be made out of metal and refused to budge. The robot shot another laser at their stomachs allowing the guards to drag them away as well.

I am so bored, Tia whined to herself, as she waited for Mike to get back with her results. As usual she was going through her daily health check up and it was the most embarrassing part (not to mention boring) of her day because she had to sit on this cold metal table in just tight shorts and a bra. Honestly they way the guards that looked at her (the ones with flesh and bone) always gave her weird looks when she was forced to walk through the dark hallways. Now they've left me the rot! Tia thought angrily as she sat with head on her hands but then a brilliant idea began to form in her mind. I'm alone and Mike won't be back for another forty minutes at least, she smiled to herself, jumping off the table and headed towards the exit. Peeping outside, she saw the guards had settled down for a game of poker. As she examined the room, she quickly picked up the most random object she could find and through it past the guards heads. They were so involved in their game that they hadn't notice the flying object until it hit the wall somewhere behind them. All the guards jumped up with a start and pointed their guns towards the shadows, giving Tia enough time to run down the opposite side of the hall. She wanted to burst out laughing with joy but knew if she did she would get caught. It felt great having this amount of freedom but she quickly had to duck out of sight again when she saw two guards coming out of a door and walked straight towards her.

"I don't know what's going to happen to them but I know the dark guys not going to last line, he doesn't want him getting to close to Tia-" At the sound of her name Tia grew curious about this guy they were talking about. As the guards walked past, Tia saw one of the guard's key cards hanging from his belt. Out of instinct she reached out and grabbed them. To her surprise the bloke didn't seem to feel anything when she snatched the key from him. As soon the two men had disappeared around the corner she raced towards the door they had just come from and scan the card. With a click the door opened. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the guy in front of her.

"Well, well, look who it is." Tia smiled, making Rocket look up from the table he was strapped to see her standing in the frame of the door way. His eyes widen when he realised she was just in her underwear. Happily she skipped over to him and leaned against the side of the table.

"Tia! What-" He tried to ask but she shushed him, placing a gentle finger on his mouth. Smiley like she had in the sphere the predator jumped on his table, placing her legs on either side of his body and pressed her thighs into his. Rocket had to quickly stiffen a groan at the feel of her body against his. This is wrong, so wrong! Rocket kept telling himself over and over as Tia attached her lips to his.

"For goodness sake, retain him!" The chief scientist ordered as he and three other men tried to wrestle D'jok on too the table. They had sent the robots away earlier because they were to clumsily especially to keep around in a small room like this but now the man in charge of this small group wished he hadn't since the footballer was putting up a fight. With one big push, the squadron managed to push their captive on to the table were they began to tying him to the chains. However, they only managed to secure one arm as D'jok kicked one of the men into the face, knocking in him back. The striker did the same thing to the other man that was trying to tie up his other leg. The other scientist who was still trying to secure his other arm barked orders at the other man to get the morphine. Just as he said it D'jok punched him in the face twice, knocking the man unconscious. The sound of a battle cry caught D'jok's attention as he twirled around to see the other man coming at him with a syringe in his hand. When the man was close enough the striker grabbed on to the wrist with the syringe and pushed it back, trying to keep whatever was in that thing away from him. The two men were so engrossed in their own little battle that they had noticed that a dark figure had entered the room.

"Drop it before I drop you." The leader of the pirates demanded as he held a gun to the top of the man's spine. The researcher dropped the needle instantly and raised his hands up in surrender, earning him a knock in the back.

"Dad!" D'jok cried out in relief, as the pirate aimed his gun at the hand cuff and shot his gun at it, blasting it open. As soon as he was released, father and son embraced each other in to a deep hug. "How did you find me?" The son questioned after he had been let go from his father's embrace.

"No time to explain, we need to find the others, do you know where they are?" Sonny inquired in full pirate mode.

"I know they dragged Rocket down another tunnel just around the corner but I have no idea where they've taken Mei." The footballer answered sadly at the thought of his beloved in harm. Knowing how his son felt, Sonny placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"We'll find them D'jok!" He said reassuringly as he could.


	18. A TURN FOR THE WORSE

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_"Has anyone seen D'jok this morning?"_

_"I gave him a ten out of ten."_

_"Sonny! Your son, Mei and Rocket have gone missing, nobody knows where they are."_

_"Mei!"_

_"Tia! What-"_

**A TURN FOR THE WORSE**

"I don't know about you Harvey but I've got a bad feeling." One of the robot guards muttered to his fellow comrade as they proceeded down the hallway for their usual guard's duty. It was like every other marched around this place; boring and quiet. Nevertheless something in his system kept bugging him.

"Are you joking? You're a robot you're not programmed to get bad feelings!" his friend shouted back, using one of his mechanical arms to hit his partner around the head. "Now come on, let's get this shift over and done with." The slightly bossier robot demanded as he dragged his feet along. It was only later that he wished he had listened to his partners warning because a little further down the tunnel. Something jumped on top of them and smashed them into the ground; they were now going to be made into spare robot parts in the morning.

"Nice work." Sonny couldn't help but admire as both men got back on to their feet.

"Hey, I was bound to inherit some of your talent sooner or later." D'jok grinned but his expression quickly turned serious again as he bent down and nicked the security card from underneath the robots arm.

"How did you know that was there?" Sonny inquired suspiciously as his pirate feelings began to surface over the trust for his son. Looking up from what he was doing and just shrugged as he was use to his father's pirate habits.

"Tia told me?"The footballer answered as he stood back up and tucked the card into a side pocket of his jacket. It took the pirate leader a few moments to realise what his son was talking about, it had been just about four years ago during the last galactic cup that Tia's parents had been kidnapped and had come to him for help. It was her that had got the security card that had opened their cells; she had t of known where it was. Somewhere along the line D'jok had questioned her about it – he didn't really take Tia as the big mouth type- he was so deep in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed his son had already begun to move and quickly followed after him. The whole underground of Genesis was a whole maze and Sonny was surprised how his son seemed to remember his way around these parts and found himself more shocked when D'jok managed to lead them to what seemed like the main control room; maybe his son had inherited some of his pirate abilities after all. What D'jok found most difficult was climbing up the frames unnoticed and crawling across the pipes in the ceiling without making a sound. He hated it because it felt like every sound he did make it was ten times amplified, so he didn't know if it was just his imagination or is he had really busted their position. Luckily, they somehow managed to get across the room without being caught and sneak into the corridor that the red headed man saw his fiancé being carried through. Darkness seized their eyesight as they made their way through the tunnels. A flash of light almost blinded the football player as Sonny flashed his torchlight on. Slowly, they made their way down the tunnel, keeping the ears clear to hear if anyone was coming their way and the eyes open for any sign of a door. But as they made their way further down the tunnel they saw nothing but a dark hallway. All hope seemed lost as they reached the end of the corridor and still no sign of a door.

"Well this is just great!" D'jok shrieked as he kicked one of the walls closets to him out of anger. I can't believe I screw up! The footballer thought to himself madly as he kicked the wall again.

"D'jok calm down-" Sonny tried to say but stopped instantly when his son span around to face him with a fury growing even wider on his face.

"Calm down, Calm down! I messed up dad. Now we have no idea where Mei is and it's my entire fault!" He shouted back at his dad and as he tried not to punch his father he turned around and threw it into the wall instead. However, the area he punched suddenly pushed further into the wall and suddenly he felt himself falling forward as the wall disappeared.

"D'jok!" Sonny shouted as he ran to the wall and tried to push it open with no success. He continued to call his son's name as he searched the wall for whatever D'jok had touched to open it.

"Dad!" D'jok shouted back through the wall but no response came. The wall must have been too thick for his father to hear because he tried to push open again and tried looking for something to open it but the room was so dark he couldn't see it properly. Sighing in annoyance, D'jok turned around and tried to find the slight light that was not helping his eye sight much. As soon as his eyes found the light, his eyes widen and he smiled in joy. "Mei." He gasped as he ran over to her. She was a sleep (again) with some kind of breathing mask over her mouth that was probably making her sleep and had clasps tied tightly around her wrist. Also, there was a tube taped on to her stomach. What? D'jok questioned as he did a quick look over to see if she was ok. Apart from the slight bruise that had appeared on her forehead (and he was going to trash the robot that did it to her later) there seemed to be no other harm caused to her.

His eyes carefully followed the lead, trying to see what it was attached to; maybe it was to a machine that was making Mei sleep. In to the darkness he went, bending down to grab on to the line and feel it's touch since it was started to get a little dim. Where does this lead to? Avalon or something? D'jok huffed in frustration as he continued to follow the cable around the room until he almost bumped his head into some type of television. Great! D'jok thought as he rubbed the top of his spiky hair and looked up. The image in front of him made his heart stop. The video was in black and white and a bit fuzzy but that didn't stop D'jok seeing the miniature human figure that moved around in the centre. He was confused for a moment; he couldn't help but poke at the screen and even wipe his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming or had something caught in it. But no matter what he did the image did not seem to disappear. How... how is this possible? D'jok wondered in disbelief as he spared a quick glance back at Mei. Did she know? Had she been keeping it away from them, all of these thoughts started dwelling in his head as his heart began to beat rapidly? His mind flashed back to certain memories that he shared with Mei and little moments were they had discuss baby talk. They had seemed to simple back then but thinking back to them now had there been some kind of secret messages she had been trying to thrown at him. Whatever was going on he would find out as soon as they got out of here. He could not remove his eyes from the screen in front of him and out of instinct his hand reached out and touched the picture. As soon as his skin came in to contact with the electronic device an energy wave poured into his flesh and went through his whole body.

"D'jok!" His father's voice echoed somewhere far away in the room –obviously he found the switch that allowed him to enter this room. His father shouted his name again but the footballer still did not respond until he felt his father's presence behind him. It seemed that the leader of the pirates noticed the same thing that D'jok had realised. A moment of silence passed between the two men as they took in the shock from the news that had been thrown on them. A firm grip on his shoulder caught D'joks attention. "Are you all right?" Sonny questioned his son. Looking at the screen for a few more seconds, the football turned towards his father with a blank expression on his face.

"I'm fine." D'jok replied bluntly, turning to his face with a completely blank expression on his face. Watching his son walk past him towards his fiancé, Sonny couldn't help but worry. His son shouldn't just be like this he should be angry, happy or fainting but not this, anything but this. It was like… he didn't care. Snapping his mind back to the main focus, he decided to get his son and his friends the hell out of here first and deal with the whole baby thing later. "Help me get these things off her." D'jok called out to him as he gently moved the breathing mask away from her move. Together, the father and son carefully moved the wires away from Mei's body, carefully watching the monitors as they went along. Finally, when the last wire was removed, D'jok carefully placed his arms around her and gently lifted her into his arms. With a firm nod to his father, Sonny led him back to the side of the room to where they had come from. Trying to hold on to his temper, the footballer watched at the pirate move his hands near the wall. He was about to shut out that he had already tried searching for the release button but the wall swung open again and kicked them back into the hallway they had come. Lucky pirate habits, D'jok cursed under his breath. Quickly they made their way down the hall and back to the main operation room. Now how are we going to get out of here, the young man wondered to himself, as he look down at his lover who was still lying in his arms. There was no way he could climb back up the frame with Mei in his arms; he wasn't bloody superman. The older figure was thinking the same thing and was scanning for a way past him until something caught his eye on one of the tables. Coming up with a quick plan, he began searching through his pockets until he found the objects he was looking for.

"When I say go run across and get somewhere safe, I'll meet you later." He ordered his son, as she pulled out three blacks balls the size of his thumb resting in the palm of his hand. Looking up from his girlfriends face he sent his father a confused look.

"What do you mean? Why are we splitting up?" D'jok hissed back quietly but his father seemed not to be paying much attention as he glance another look at the scene before him.

"Trust me, just think about Mei." Sonny whispered back at his son. Before the lad had any chance to argue with him, Sonny threw the balls. As soon as they hit the floor the small objects blew up and smoke filled the whole room. In the blink of an eye, D'jok's father jumped up and disappeared into the air of grey fog. Gritting his teeth together, the young player forced himself to run. Nothing else just ran. Not paying attention to any of the other men who were running around the room shouting at each other. He didn't know if anyone spotted him but he hoped the scientist had been too busy trying to sought out the mess to take notice. It wasn't until he realized he was back at the place where the men had tried to strap him down to a lab table. Great, now I'm lost! The son of the pirate thought, twirling around to see if he recognised where he was. Moving slowly down the halls, D'jok tried to think of the best way to get out of this area when he bumped into a familiar person.

"Rocket!" The striker cried out when he nearly bumped into his team mate who had been freely wondering the halls. For some reason the midfielder didn't have his shirt anymore and his chest was covered with small bruises. He seemed to look a bit daze but for what reasons, the other player did not know. "What happen to you?" D'jok cried out before he could stop himself. It took the captain a few moments to realise what his friend had said as he just stood there blinking a few times.

"I think I was nearly raped by my girlfriend." He stated simple, not sure himself. If D'jok had a choice, he would never have laughed at the situation; but there was just some things on this planet that even the gods couldn't stop. A great bellow escaped the striker mouth but he quickly snapped his mouth shut again.

"That's rough dude." He commented but his friend still a little out of it to really care what he had said now or before.

"What happened to Mei?" Rocket questioned when his eyes came upon her, with her head resting against D'joks shoulder.

"It's a long story." He replied quickly and started moving again. "Come on, we've got to get out of here." The pirates son commanded, giving him a gentle kick in the ankle to help wake him up (wasn't like he could use his hands) it seemed to work as Rocket's eyes snapped open and began following the red head out through the hall ways.

The rest of the Snow Kids sat in the lunge nervously as they waited for news –including Ahito who was well enough to wonder around a bit now. They did try to do some work out to stay in shape but their minds just kept getting distracted by the past few week's events.

"This has been the worse cup season ever!" Micro-Ice suddenly announced, throwing his arms in the air. Everyone nodded in agreement. In the first cup, everything had gone well except for the whole retaken of the meta flux and D'jok nearly given up the match because the general had kidnapped his father. Then in the second year, Rocket had been suspended for saving Tia's life and had gone to play Netherball, Ahito's illness appeared and they had nearly all died in the final match. But this year the season was the cherry on top of the ice-cream; it just seemed to be one bad thing after another. "What's next? Clary steals Thran away to become her groupie full time." Micro-Ice yelled out which earned a few giggles from the other team mates except the defender who was shooting him evils.

"Hey! I wouldn't do that!" Clary cried out it in her defense as she entered the room and sat herself next to her boyfriend, who automatically wrapped an arm around her waist. "I would at least make him my number one groupie." She grinned wolfishly back and gave Thran a peck on the cheek.

"Well at least something went right for someone this year." Mark commented about the newest couple of the Snow kids. "You wouldn't happen to any single friends for me Clary." The sub asked, leaning forward interest as he watched the rock star pondered on his question.

"Well, I know a lot of single male friends if you're interested." She answered, which made the small striker and the two goal keepers laughing their heads off, while Mark just banged his afro on the arm of his chair. Just then the doors burst open and Rocket came stumbling in the room.

"Rocket!" Everyone cried out at the same time and jumping up from their sitting places ran over to him. They were all shocked to notice that the mid-fielder was shirtless and hard love marks all over his skin. All of the footballers were too busy asking him questions that the poor captain head was getting even more screwed up in the end then he had been before.

"Where's Aarch?" Rocket had to yell out in the end as he remembered what he was doing searching the room in the first place. Everyone's faces just went blank as they all looked at each other.

"He's in his office with clamp waiting for news from Sonny."Yuki finally answered in the end. With a quick nod of his head, Rocket whizzed off down the hallway making the Snow Kids even more confused then before. Having no sleep and going through the drama of last night and today had driven him into sanity (well almost anyway) and as he made his way among the other guests and staff of the hotel. Finally he made his way to the office his coach was stationed at the hotel and without thinking just stormed into the room. He was shocked to see that it wasn't just Clamp and his uncle in the room. His parents, Maya and Mei's parents were standing around the desk. News travels fast, Rocket wondered to himself as he was surprised that the other parents flew out here so quickly and his parents came running towards him and pulled him into a hug. Biting on to his cheek until he tasted copper on his tongue, he almost fell over with exhausting when he was able to add some of his heavy weight on to his parents. They seemed to take in that he was exhausted and kept a strong support around him.

"Rocket what happened, where are D'jok and Mei?" Aarch asked, almost flying up from his chair but was able to retain himself and remain calm.

"D'jok and Mei are with Dame Simbai, they're ok but they gave something to Mei and she won't wake up." Before he was even half way through the sentence the other worried guardians left the room in search of their loved ones. Now it was just his family and Clamp left in the room.

"What happen to you Rocket?" His mother questioned again as she led him over to one of the comfortable sofa's to rest in. Trying to fight the edge of tiredness that was creeping up on him, Rocket began to explain all of the dramatic events. The Luur confrontation, investigating on Netherball, his one on one experience with Tia and the confrontation with the suppose master mind behind all of this; the only bit he didn't mention was what happened between him and Tia when he was locked in the cell. Everyone listened carefully as the boy explained and he was quite grateful for it since he didn't want to be getting into any fights now, not when he felt he was going to drop off the chair any second.

"Did you see Sonny?" Clamp suddenly asked which caught the midfielder by surprise.

"Sonny? No I didn't but I think D'jok did since he kept muttering stuff like how he was going to kill him if he was still alive." Rocket answered, which didn't seem to help ease the technicians expression. Luckily his old friend just happened to turn up at that point, all dirty and a little rough but nevertheless ok.

"It seems my son will be able to carry out his threat then won't he." The pirate leader announced, making everyone jump.

"Sonny!" Everyone seemed to call out in the same union, as the old man walked into the room.

"I'm glad you're ok Rocket." Sonny point out when he noticed the young football player sitting between his parents.

"Thanks to D'jok, we would of never got out of there if it weren't for him." Rocket point out to the pirate and it was true too because somehow, the striker had managed to climb them out of the maze of underground tunnels (not to mention he carried his girlfriend all the way) and get them straight back to the hotel without many people noticing. For a second he could have sworn he saw a proud look beam in the pirate leader's face but it quickly disappeared as it had come. Thinking of D'joks actions and the way he carried his sleeping lover out of the tunnels he could help but feel a stab of guilt. At that moment Tia flashed inside his head and he couldn't help but feel depressed again. "I still can't believe I went all the way down there to save Tia and just find… a completely different person." He thought out angrily to himself and slammed his fist on the side of his chair; he couldn't help but feel like a total failure.

"That's because she was a completely different person but it's not her that's controlling her actions." Sonny announced, sounding all business like as he pulled out a file from underneath his jacket and threw it on the table, sliding in front of Rocket. "I grabbed this, it's explains that they put some kind of device on the back of her neck to control her." He explained as Rocket grabbed the folder from the table and scanned it. Reading the contents of the paper it explained everything. How the chip planted into her spine sent electronic sparks up her nerve system allowing whoever implanted it full control. It went on to explain how the device was not fully tested yet but what they did get was that the persons hormonal system got thrown out of whack, explaining Tia's heighten aggression and lust. Just then Rocket swore if he ever got his hand's the person responsible he would make them pay big time. Snapping the file shut, he stood up and turned to Sonny.

"So how do we get the chip out?" He asked his expression blank and his voice in full command as he waited for an answer.

"I'm not sure but I'm hoping the disc I swiped will give us some answers." He replied, fumbling through his pockets and pulled out a silver CD and handed it towards Clamp. "I need you to have a look at this and see what you can, Arrgh!" The pirate suddenly shouted out. Cradling the back of his neck with one hand as he fell full force on to the floor.

"Sonny!" Clamp shouted out as he crouched beside his friends. Another cry of pain echoed from the room, only this time from Rocket, who fell flat on the floor unconscious.


	19. SWEET DREAMS

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_"Are you joking? You're a robot you're not programmed to get bad feelings!"_

_"Calm down, Calm down! I messed up dad. Now we have no idea where Mei is and it's my entire fault!"_

_"When I say go run across and get somewhere safe, I'll meet you later."_

_"What happened to Mei?"_

**SWEET DREAMS**

D'jok's world had completely torn apart. His father had been poisoned and no one knew how it was done or who did it and his girlfriend was pregnant – okay the last part wasn't exactly a bad one but he wasn't sure if it was good yet either. At least he was glad to know that the scientist had only given a strong sedative to his girlfriend and that there was no harm to the baby or her; Dame Simbai was shocked to discover this as well but promise to keep it a secret until he had talked to Mei about it. On the good side, he wasn't alone, Maya was right there sitting next to him. The woman who had raised him since the day he was born. Reaching out he grabbed his father's hand and held it tightly with his own. He was soon comforted by the warm presences of his adoptive mother's hand on his shoulder. He used his other hand to hold on to hers. Sitting there, just watching the monitors -similar to the ones that had been surrounding Mei- nothing was said. Honestly, he didn't know what to say. This man that lay in the bed a sleep in front of him was the only man that had any genetic link to him in his life and he was losing him, he had just found this man and now he was being taken from him. No! D'jok told himself firmly, he began telling himself he was being over dramatic; they still had time to save his old man. At this moment Dame Simbai was looking for an antidote as they spoke. Speaking of the medic, a knocking on the door caught his attention and he turned around to woman standing by the door.

"Mei's awake." She said simply. The footballer half rose from his seat but stopped and then turned back to his father.

"Go." Maya spoke softly to him, he saw that she had the stubborn frown on her face that showed she was ordering him not telling him but still he wasn't sure if he should go as well. "Trust me, I'll look after him." He told him and patted him gently on the arm. With a weak smiled he silently thanked her and followed Simbai out of the room. Following the doctor through the twisting corridors of the hotel, he soon found himself in another room similar to the one with his father but in this one had fewer machines and in the centre laid Mei with her parents surrounding her. Hearing the door open, she looked up to see him entre and smiled. He tried to give her the same smile back but something in him was just not up to it. Sensing there was something wrong; the defender asked if she could talk privately to him, the adults agreed and left the room. As soon as they left, D'jok made his way over to one of the remaining empty chairs that stood next to her bed. Mei found it strange that her fiancée wouldn't look her in the eyes.

"I heard what happened to Sonny and Rocket, I' m so sorry." She tried to reassure him but when she tried to hold on to his hands he move it out of range. Seeing this, Mei wasn't sure what to do.

"Did you know that you were pregnant?" D'jok asked so quickly that his girlfriend wasn't sure if he had actually heard him correctly at first.

"What did you-" She tried to say but was interrupted when he looked straight back up at her with a angry glare that she had never seen before.

"Did you know that you were pregnant?" He repeated again with a more firm response. The questioned racked her brain like a ball continuously banging off walls and refusing to stop. What the hell was he talking about?

"D'jok what... pregnant?" She questioned again in startled confusion. For a moment they both looked each other right in the eyes. Light blue stared into deep emerald ones for moments that seemed like years but in reality it was only a couple of minutes. That's when D'jok told her everything, what had happened to him how Sonny found them and then how they managed to find her and what he saw. If he was being honest, the football striker wasn't sure if she had heard most of it, since she had just sat completely still through the whole time he had been explaining. After he had finished they both just sat there, not being able to stay anything. Slowly Mei moved her hand on to her abdomen and gently stroked it. "So... how do you feel about this?" She questioned her future husband to be. Leaning back against the chair, he stroked his spiky red hair back against his head.

"I'm not sure; I feel like so many emotions that they seem to cancel each other once." He answered honestly. Out of instinct, Mei reached forward and held on to his hand tightly.

"It's okay; we're going to get through this." She tried to comfort and kissed him gently on the head. The simple touch on his forehead seemed to relieve much of the tension that had began weighing down on his shoulders lately. This simple touch of comfort was what he needed to feel better.

Everyone stood around the bed and tried to hold back their fearful behaviour as they held their son done on the hospitalised bed as Dame Simbai tried to take another sample of his blood. No one understood what was going on. Sonny had just been knocked unconscious with it but Rocket had had some kind of violent reaction to it. The medic had suggested that he might have been having some allergic reaction to whatever they had poison him with. They had to tie him up with leather straps to keep him secured to the bed. After a while, the adults were allowed to sit back down again in their chairs. The parents were forced to watch their son breath heavily, as sweet dripped down his body and shiver wildly as his temperature rose higher. It was always painful for a family to watch someone their love ill and not be able to do anything for them. Every now and again, Keira would change the cloth on his head but still she felt defenceless. What was happening to her son?

_Rocket knew he was dreaming but the nightmare kept repeating itself in his head. The captain had been having this dream for a long time now, ever since Tia had been taken. __He walked around the white room, trying to remain calm while he searched for an exit but with no success. Looking at himself he saw that he was wearing his Snow Kids uniform for some reason (he had always dreamt himself in the gear he had rented playing this sport last time) he expected to have flashing images of players he had battle before and then he realised he had hurt Tia while she was trying to save him. But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was different, instead of feeling like he wanted to tear something apart he felt like he was there to save something; the only thing that felt the same in this place was that he knew he had to win. Then he head the door swoosh open behind him. In slow motion he turned to face his rival. A part of him already knew who was coming but that didn't stop him falling to his knees as the strength he once had suddenly disappeared. The person that stood in front of him was none other than his beloved angel; Tia. He tried calling to her, screaming at her to stop all of this and come home with him, that he was sorry for the way he had treated and that he loved her. Hoping she would listen to his desperate pleads but she refused to listen. The sight of her broke his heart. She was sick; really sick! Her beautiful angel like complexion had gone completely and was replaced by a zombie._

"_Let's do this!" She smirked, walking towards the centre of the sphere and waited for him to take his place. Pulling himself together, Rocket forced himself to move to the centre of the sphere also and stand right in front of her. He tried one more time to plead with her but she just shrugged him off like the other times. Despite every single cell in his body telling him this was wrong he knew he had to do this – for her. That's when the battle began._

_The torture kept repeating itself over and over again in his head. It was so painful; he just wanted it to stop. He wished that everything could go back as it used to, that he could hold in his arms again, to hear her laugh every time he did something silly or just to feel her heart beat next to his. How the hell was he going to get out of this?_

Corso and the other pirates were searching high and low in the underground of Gensis but apart from the Netherball stadium itself everything had moved. All of the experimental rooms and machines had been moved. The computers that couldn't be moved had been wiped clean of any information. Fantastic! The second in command growled as he kicked the third dead in machine they found. This was ridiculous, how could a whole company just suddenly disappear under two hours? Obviously whoever they were dealing with was on a completely different level to Bleylock.

"Alright, let's check the next room." He ordered, with was soon followed by a lot commotion from the other pirates dropping what they were searching through and picking up their own equipment to take into the next hallway. After travelling forever they made their way to the final and largest room. This was where the largest computers were so many had been left behind. Corso instantly ordered his men to search the machines and they quickly followed. They all knew Sonny and one other person had been poisoned with something that no one knew what; they had to work fast. However, their search seemed to be in vain as they checked every database to find everything had gone. Everything seemed loss until they reached the last computer and found out someone had left them a message. It started out like any other computer search, weird digital symbols appearing on the screen as the computer hacker traced through the database. Just as he was about to inform his leader that the machine was empty like all the others, something strange appeared on the computer. It was only three words; check the disc. Everyone looked at each other with startled looks on their faces. "What disc?" Corso muttered angrily to himself.

"Corso, didn't Sonny mention he was taken some kind of computer disc for Clamp to check out." Bennet pointed out, after the strange phrase went through his head. After thinking this through the second in command ordered the other man to get back to the ship, while he and Bennet went to go and check on Clamp.

"Can't you do something? He's getting worse!" Norato yelled out, as his son began struggling more angrily against the restraints. The flouriest hadn't meant to sound so aggressive but his emotions were on high alert for the moment. Dame Simbai seemed to ignore this since she was used to this sought of behaviour and did her duty and placed a sedative in the side of his neck to help the man to calm down. It seemed to work a little but his breathing was highly rapid. The parents seemed to calm down again and they bent over him, checking he was alright.

Meanwhile, in the other hospital room D'jok and Mei sat beside the pirate that lay asleep. Maya had gone to rest since she had not slept in a long time because she was so worried about D'jok. The future dad to be had insisted that his love rest in her own room as well(she was sleeping for two people now) but she insisted on coming along. They had already discussed their situation with Dame Simbai and she explain that as long as they were careful they would be allowed to play in the cup; though she didn't like the fact she was keeping it away from Aarch, nevertheless, unless it was life threatening she wasn't allowed to say everything. As strange as it would seem (also surprising D'jok and Mei in the process) Dame Simbai had no control over her unless she was three months pregnant. The striker wasn't very keen on the idea himself at first but Mei convinced him that for one thing they would be one man short on the team and second she could still play – just had to be more careful. Both of them sat quietly together, thinking about their whole future in front of them; hopefully with Sonny playing a grandfather. A sudden knock from the door caught their attention and they turned around to see Dame Simbai standing in the door frame.

"You two might want to come, Clamp thinks he's got something that will help Sonny." She smiled at them. Mei and D'jok both jumped on to their feet and followed the woman out of the room. She led them towards Clamp's office where they joined a large group of people which consisted of Corso, Bennet, Aarch, Rocket's parents and of course Clamp himself who was working at a mad one at his computer.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news and some good news." Clamp warned as he turned around to face the large group of people, waiting impatiently for the news. "I discovered that the poison effected different blood types, for Sonny there's a small antidote that can easily treat him and wake him up in a couple of hours." The announcement was a great relief to his love ones.

"Thank goodness." D'jok muttered under his breath and squeezed his girlfriend's hand. However, Clamp was about to ruin the mood.

"The bad news is that Rocket's blood type is a whole different matter..." Clamp trailed off, trying to find a way to explain what he had to say next.

"Spit it out Clamp." Aarch tried to ask calmly but was impatient to find out what was wrong with his nephew.

"There is no antidote, the immune system has to fight the poison itself and there's only a fifteen percent chance he'll survive." He admitted. Keira burst into tears when she found out the news and her husband was at her back trying to comfort her. Dame Simbai whispered to Aarch that she was going to check on Rocket and the rest of them could just stand there in shock.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Aarch asked desperately but Clamp could only shake his head, he had searched the whole hard drive for any extra files that could have been hidden away but apart from a few documents that described how some of the machines worked there was nothing. The whole room stood in silence, trying to take in the news. However, only a minute or so later, the medic came running back.

"Rocket's gone!"


	20. ONE ON ONE

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

_"Mei's awake." _

_"Did you know that you were pregnant?" _

_"It's okay; we're going to get through this."_

_"Corso, didn't Sonny mention he was taken some kind of computer disc for Clamp to check out."_

_"Rocket's gone!"_

**ONE ON ONE**

"What do you mean he's gone?" Everyone shouted at the exact same time that the noise shook the walls of the hotel. Dame Simbai could just stand there and stare since her brain was bouncing up and down for the headache that had just explored in her head for the banging volume of their voices working together. The medic had to literally shake her heard to get her to focus again.

"I walked into his room to check on him and he wasn't there." The woman explained, everyone went running past her and towards Rockets room. Where to their shocked belief, they found that the mid-fielder had in fact disappeared. The pirates were already began inspecting the bonds that had tied Rocket to the bed.

"These have been wretched right from the bonds." Bennet pointed out, picking up the leather and checking it closer. "Did that hard drive mention anything about super human strength or something?" He tried to joke but the evil look he got from Corso was enough to shut him up.

"What do you mean? He just tore the restraints right away from their hinges and left!" D'jok cried out, certainly it wasn't true, not with the condition his team mate was in but the look the two pirates shot him afterwards told him they weren't kidding.

"But where of possibly could have he gone?" Norata asked, clinging to his wife who looked like her knees were going to buckle in any moment; the stress must have been getting to her.

"I'm going to get security and get them to look at the cameras." Aarch informed and then disappeared without a trace. Where could Rocket of possibly disappeared to? Everyone was thinking to themselves.

This is so not fair! I don't deserve this! Tia muttered dangerously to herself as she sat in the corner of her cell and folded her arms in frustration. She only wanted a little fun and that guy was totally like a chocolate ice-cream sundae; mouth watering to look at and not to mention the taste was beyond good. She totally would of made it to third base as well if he hadn't tricked her to undoing the bonds and slapped them on her instead. That was how she got caught by the stupid robots patrolling the hallways. Now she had been thrown into this mucky old room with nothing but her bra and knickers on. For the past few hours she had been locked in this damn cell like she was some caged beast.

"Let me out of here!" Tia shrieked as she bashed her fists against the door, ignoring the pain that was sparkling from her bruised hand. All she could here was the guards laughing on the other side, which only increased her rage and began spitting and screaming her heard off as she thrashed against the door. A sudden sick feeling feels her stomach. She didn't understand what was going on as her vision begins to cloud and she feels like she is being stabbed by thousands of tiny needles. A thud from inside her cell scares the prison guards on to their feet and slowly make their way over to the dark room. Opening it up they see the girl has collapsed onto the floor.

"Someone get the boss! Quickly!" The robot in charge of all of them calls out and two run off to find him. They soon return back with Harris and Mike trotting along at his side. Rapidly, the nerdy assistant makes his way besides Tia and checks her over. Sweat drips down the girls head and her body shivers madly.

"Help me get her to the medic room." Mike order taking charge for once in his life that even Harris is shocked by this new development. I do not like this, Harris thought to himself as he watched the young research help carry the girl away.

"Will she be all right for the next match?" Harris demanded to know, the next game was in half an hour and his time was becoming limited with the amount of time he had wasted moving everyone to a second stash of rooms he had waiting just in case the pirates caught wind on to his little scheme.

"I don't know? We'll have to wait and see." Mike answered quickly turning is full attention to Tia again and tried to help her the best he could.

Rocket stumbled through the underground of Genesis. He was mad at himself for not realising what the dreams had been trying to tell him. They hadn't been sent to torture him but to give him a message; though he didn't like the message any better. When he woke up he felt like he had snapped out of some kind of ghostly expedition to hell and back. Wrestling his way from the grips that bonding him to the bed he had only stopped at his room to put on his Snow Kids gear. He still didn't feel a hundred percent yet but he had no choice – he had to get her out of there. Fate must have been on his side as he somehow managed to make his way through the tunnels without bumping into any guards. Stumbling through the crowd he managed to make it to the front where he saw a Cyclopse team member about to get into the Sphere. He made his way over and stood to his full height, making the tiny player tremble.

"I think you should step out of this one." He threatened the little football player. The one eyed alien didn't need telling twice and he scattered off into the crowd. Taking a deep breath, Rocket turned to face the white object hanging in the middle and forced himself to walk into it. He walked around the white room, trying to remain calm while he searched for an exit but with no success, he knew that it seemed ridiculous but he decided to see if there were any differences to the machine and he was kind of thinking on the go since he had no idea how he was going to escape from here with Tia. Despite knowing it was real he felt like he was going to see flashes images of his former rivals any second. Then he head the door swoosh open behind him. In slow motion he turned to face his rival. He didn't full to his knees like he did in his dream,. He knew if he showed a moment of weakness then everything would full apart; including himself. The person that stood in front of him was none other than his beloved angel; Tia. The sight of his beloved broke his heart. She was sick; even sicker then before and he had only disappeared for half a day at least! Her beautiful angel like complexion had gone completely and was replaced by a zombie.

"Tia please, we don't have to do this." Rocket tried to beg with her but she only laughed at him.

"You really think that's going to work, I think you and I have a score to settle, since I didn't get my way with you last time." She laughed bitterly, dancing around on the spot.

"Tia... I'm begging you, try to remember, about the team, about us." He almost screamed at her, frustrated that she didn't seem to try or care as she continued to sway around. A sudden light of fire over took his body as he reached for her shoulders and shook her hard. "For goodness sake Tia, please try!" He snapped, it wasn't that the midfielder was angry at her, he was mad at the situation they had gotten themselves into and who had dragged them into it; however, Tia just happen to be and object that he could put his hands on. Retaliating back, his girlfriend knocked his arms off her shoulders and pushed him on to the floor

"Let's do this!" She smirked, walking towards the centre of the sphere and waited for him to take his place. Pulling himself together, Rocket forced himself to move to the centre of the sphere also and stand right in front of her. The ball appeared in the centre and Tia stole the ball faster from Rocket's eyes then anything he could imagine; she may have been ill but this did not effect her speed one bit. She spun around him and headed to the other of the sphere. Rocket's body turned in slow motion and for a spilt second when Tia's hair flew up to show a small silver object embedded in the base of her neck. The chip! Rocket thought, his eyes widen in realisation. Without another thought, Rocket went chasing after her, trying to get past her and take the ball. But she was so quick and she hit hard and fast; literally. Before Rocket realised what had happened, Tia elbowed him in the gut. He flew backwards as the wind was knocked out of him. Looking up, he caught Tia scoring a score – now he was one goal behind. Clutching on to his gut, the captain pushed himself off the ground and made himself walk back to face her. The smirk that had appeared on her face sicken Rocket to the core. Deep down he knew he had to unlock the beast that he had enclosed four years ago if he wanted to rescue the girl he loved. He didn't like it but he had to picture her as someone else. Everyone he ever fort against began to appear in front of him. The ball appeared in front of them and both players slammed their feet into the side of the ball, the strength they had both put into the ball explored. They both stumbled back because the blast seemed to throw them off. Tia actually growled at him before returning to her place. They ball appeared faster then before and since Tia had recovered quicker she was able to grab the ball fast. Rocket was on her in seconds and before of them battled to the ball. As time went on the aggression in Rocket grew to such a point that for a second her forgot what he was there for. Forcefully he pushed her aside and her back slammed against the wall and Rocket took control and kicked it into the opposite goal. He did not know the amount of impact that he had place of his girlfriends life.

"What's going on?" Harris demanded from the main headquarters of the Genesis underground, Mike was typing madly at the computer screen as he tried to find out what was going on. The young lad assistant was not happy that his boss had sent her back on to the field in her condition. He had not release the effect the drugs he had been given her had taken such an effect on her.

"It seems something had happened with the device." Was the only response Mike gave back as he continued to type.

"What do you mean?" Harris questioned again, being impatient that he wasn't receiving any reasonable explanation. Mike made sure his mouth was slammed shut so he didn't say anything stupid but from the results he collected he saw that the device on the back of her neck had somehow been damaged; now he had to explain it to his boss.

For a few moments, Rocket felt the old days were back as his blood boiled in his body and adrenaline pumped around his body. He could feel the triumphant burn through his body like a drug addict that had returned to a dose of something even better then he had taken before. All of that change when he felt the terrifying scream of his beloved echo through the room. Spinning around he saw his emerald eyed beauty crouching on the ground in pain. It was like the first time he had faced Tia in Netherball, He ran to her and crouch down beside her.

"Tia! Tia look at me." He ordered firmly as he tried to hide his fear. Slowly she turned to face him and it was like she recognised him one moment but then she blanked out the next. It was at that moment Rocket made a decision. Lifting her up, Rocket picked her up bridal style and run to the door. Kicking it full force he kicked the door open and smoke surrounded him. Running out of the arena, he found himself surrounded by and angry mob of fans and noticed that robots were trying to get to them. Slamming his foot again into the control panel, the electrical system went mad. The rooms lights flashed on and off, making it hard to see where anyone was going. Tucking Tia close to his chest, he pushed himself through the ground, trying to get by them all. Fighting his way through the crowd, he managed to find a lone tunnel hidden behind the pillars and took this opportunity to dive into the darkness.

"Dad! You can't be serious." D'jok cried out as his father began mobilising his troops. The man had woken up only five minutes ago and after hearing Rocket had disappeared was in full pirate leader mode. As you can tell D'jok was not happy about this. Mei stood with him, also worried for her future father in law. The mentioned man stopped talking to Corso and looked at his son. The pirate sent his old friend a look which the other men read easily and disappeared out of the room. Allowing father and son to have an one on one discussion.

"D'jok I have to go, I'm the only on that knows the inner site of the stadium accept you and Mei and I won't risk putting you in danger." The answer he gave his son was half true. His other followers knew where the computer rooms where because they were able to follow the wires systems to the main rooms but they did not anything about the prison system and that was where he guessed they were keeping Tia. Plus, if his instincts were right and what Bennet had told him was true, Rocket would head straight there. Not mention the security cameras had shown Rocket stopping by his room to pick up his Snow Kids uniform. If the lover boy didn't get his butt captured then they might be able to go down there and get out without a scratch.

"You've just woken up and you're already going into a battle field." D'jok retorted back, staring his father down. He didn't care that his dad was brave, he just wanted his dad to be normal and get some bloody rest.

"D'jok... You know no one else can do this." His father whispered back. The footballer shook with utter rage and could not trust his tongue to say anything reasonable so stormed out of the room instead, ignoring the protests that came from both Mei and Sonny. The door slammed shut behind him, cutting off their cries. The two people stood silently in the room.

"Make sure you take care Sonny." Mei's weak voice echoed through the tension that had settled upon them. The old man looked at her and gave her a small smile.

"I promise I will." The man smiled back, giving Mei a little encouragement.

"You better, otherwise I'd personally have to hurt you myself." Mei added, causing a shocked looked to appear on Sonny's face. He knew Mei was feisty but he hadn't be expecting that. The girl's manner soon became gentle again when she placed a protective hand over her stomach. "The child's going to need a cool grandfather to look out for him." She tried to joke.

"I won't miss it for the world." Sonny called back and he meant it. The grandfather to be had already missed his son's childhood; he was not going to miss his grandchild's. With a simple wave he left, leaving a lot of people to worry about him.


	21. THE HEARTS SORROWS

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

"_Did that hard drive mention anything about super human strength or something?"_

"_Help me get her to the medic room."_

_"Will she be all right for the next match?"_

_"Tia please, we don't have to do this."_

_"Let's do this!"_

**THE HEARTS SORROWS **

Rocket stumbled through the darkness of the corridors. Common sense told him that he shouldn't have turned down here but it was the only passage that didn't have mental fans shoving each other in a riot or armed robots coming at him. But now he was lost. He had escaped them for now but how long would he last, he wasn't at full strength himself and could feel his energy draining from him. Everything was quiet at the moment and used this opportunity to kneel down and laid Tia against the wall. He sat down beside her as he took a few moments to catch his breath and think of something. People had regarded him as a person who would come up with plans very quickly but right now his mind was drawing a blank. A moan distracted him from his thoughts long enough to look back at his girlfriend. Her body was shivering like mad and beads of sweat dripped down her face. For a second her eyes fluttered open and stared into his.

"Rocket!" She whispered urgently and reached out her shaking hand towards him. Greedily he grabbed her long slender hands and held onto them it tightly.

"It's ok, I'm here." He comforted, pushing back a piece of stranded white hair from her face. As soon as he place the strand behind her it back out of place again because the shivering was making it hard for anything to stay in place. A tiny whimper came from her mouth and Rocket brought her back into a hug. He could feel his shirt between to soak with the amount of sweat that was pouring down her forehead.

"Rocket they... they gave me something." Was all she could utter out of her mouth? It took the midfielder to realise what she was talking about. His grip tightened as he pulled her closer to him. They drugged her! They fucking drugged her? Rocket thought angrily, his mind now clouded with anger. The sound on metal tapping the floors caught his attention and he wanted so badly to go and beat the living crap out of them but Tia's condition only seemed to get worse and he knew he had to think about her health first.

"Come on." He whispered, putting one of her arms around his shoulders and one of his around her waist. Lifting both of them off the ground he guided her further into the darkness.

Tia didn't know where they were going, some tunnels look familiar, some she had never seen before and the others just seemed to blur together. She tried her best to keep up with her boyfriend since she knew he couldn't carry her everywhere but everything just seemed to be ten times more difficult. A sudden force within her struck her hard and she had to stop, leaning over vomit came from her mouth. Her head fell back as the weight of her head became too much and her eyes rolled to the back of her head, blacking everything out for a few seconds. Only the sound of Rockets voice began to welcoming her back to reality seemed to snap her back and her focus was back on him. So many emotions thunder through so fast she wasn't able to keep track of them all. Even some memories seemed to flash in her mind that she never recognised and the rest seemed blank, it was like she half knew him and half didn't. But right now she knew she had to trust him. She listened to the sound of comforting words that came from his firm mouth. When he head didn't feel as dizzy as it had been they began running again. However, in her condition and they had to stop multiple times to get her able to catch her breath. By the fifth time they had to stop she collapsed against the wall and was breathing heavily.

"Hey it's ok I'm here." Rockets soft voice spoke softly, rubbing the side of her cheeks. Despite the feel of his touch that she felt such a longing for she did not feel much better.

"It hurts." She cried watery leaks sprang from her eyes, it like there were a million nuclear explosions going on in her stomach. Rockets face twisted in pain when he saw what the drugs were doing to her. Mentally slapping himself, Rocket forced himself to get a grip of himself.

"It's ok Tia, I'm here." He whispered gently, swiping the sweat away from her forehead to stop the liquid blinding her sight (though there wasn't much eyesight anyway) it wasn't like he could do much, he couldn't even wrap a jacket around her to quick her warm. The sudden sound of footsteps echoing down the opposite hallway made Rocket's head snapped in the direction of the sounds but it also seemed to be coming from the opposite directions as well; they were trapped. Crap! Rocket thought –not to mention a whole lot of other curses- he hadn't even realised that he had scooped Tia back up into his arms and was holding him tightly against his chest. Beads of sweat were beginning to drip down his own forehead. He felt his back pushing further and further against the wall, trying to think of something but nothing came. The sounds got louder and the footballer began to see the shadows grow bigger. In the next second he didn't know what happened. He was in the corridor one moment, seeing the shadows grow bigger and then next someone's arm was wrapped around him and pulling him back. He was about to fight back until he saw a familiar face staring at him. Artie! He shouted out loud or would have if the hand was covering his mouth only performing a muffled, he was a little worse for wear but still he looked fine. The pirate placed a finger on his lips and made a shushing noise. Nodding his head was the only response that Rocket could give back and the sudden marching back to echo through the walls. His heart beat began pounding harder against his rib cage as he could hear the machines marching past. A small whimper echoed through Tia's mouth and everyone's hear stopped. The marching outside had suddenly frozen and everyone held their breath for the first. It had only been a few seconds but it had seemed like years to the people in the hidden room when the robots started marching on again. Only when the sound had completely disappeared did everyone let out a breath of relief. That was when the tight hand that had been keeping his mouth shut loosen and the midfielder was allowed to turn around and face the rest of pirates; coming face to face with the leader himself.

"Rocket! What's wrong with Tia?" Sonny demanded to know, helping Rocket to get over his shock.

"She mentioned something about them giving her something; I think she's having withdrawal systems." Rocket answered back bluntly and firm, keeping on his own toes with Sonny. The man stepped forward and placed his hand on her forehead, checking the girl's temperature. After a few moments of inspecting the ill woman, Sonny came up with a quick decision. "Alright men! Listen up." Sonny commander, making everyone stop what they were doing and look at their leader; a man everyone admired. "We're dropping the recon mission." At this announcement some of the pirates couldn't help but object to this sudden order but they were soon quiet again when they saw the serious look that had darken his face. Even Rocket, who wasn't even a pirate, was standing still and waiting for Sonny to give him orders- during the part where he wasn't trying to comfort Tia. "We're going to focus all our energy on an assault force."

"Stubborn old man. Stupid pirate instinct. Selfless bastard." These were the curses that Mei had to put up with as she sat relaxing against the pillows of the bed, while her fiancé continued to pace up and down the room.

"D'jok! Will you calm down; you're making me feel dizzy!" Mei had to shout at him. She couldn't take it anymore with his constant pacing and his annoying mumbling about how much an asshole is father was; not to mention the walking back and forth was actually making feel a little dizzy.

"I know Mei, it's just... grr, just frustrating!" He exaggerated, as he flung his arms wildly. After what seemed like he was getting rid of the rest of his energy and he slumped on to the bed. Crawling across the sheets, Mei made her way up behind him and gently placed a kiss on the base of his neck before she snuggled her face into his back. She wasn't sure she knew how to comfort him, in other stressful situations she would allow him to fuck her brains out but it didn't seem right for this situation.

"He's going to be fine D'jok." She tried to comfort him but these words seemed to have the opposite effect since D'jok jumped back on to his feet again.

"How can we say that Mei? He's fighting somewhere underneath Genesis against those robot's and..." He stopped short when Mei stood up and stomped her foot hard on the floor to cause a loud bang – it was either that or slapping him around the face.

"There's no need to have a go at me like that, I was only trying to help!" She screamed at him and tears came from her eyes as she stormed out the room. D'jok could only stand there wide eyed; he had not been expecting that. It was then that Micro-Ice came into the room and saw his friend frozen like a statue.

"D'jok! Are you all right?" He questioned, his voice seemed to break through the freeze spell that had settle upon the striker and bring him back into reality. "Hey what did you say to Mei, she looked pretty upset when I walked past here." The joker of the team added, jumping on to his bed in to a comfortable sitting position as he waited for his friend to talk.

"I need to go and see Mei." Was all D'jok could say as he marched out of the room to find where his beloved had gone off to?

"You're welcome." Micro-Ice shouted after him before the door could shut close and silence him.

Meanwhile, deep in the pits of Genesis, the whole underground was being pulled apart by technoid robots and men under the influence of Harris as they searched for the Queen of the sphere and the challenger who had kidnapped her from their master's procession; he was not in a good mood right now. Stuck in the middle of all this, two guard robots were searching through the dark parts of Genesis, tossing aside old crates that had been thrown down here because no one knew where to put them.

"I got a bad feeling again Harvey." One of the robot guards said to his companion as they did a scope around the halls. His body was already dented from the fights he had to break up in the stadium and was now searching for the boy who had stolen his bosses' prize; luckily he was not programmed to feel pain.

"Not your stupid feelings again Harvey!" His partner shouted from behind him, taking time out from his search to kick his team mate in the butt, making a huge crash as the robot was pushed into the wooden crates and squashed most of them in the process. "We've already been through this; robots are not programmed to have feelings." The partner told the other robot off. In shame and covered with wood, the robot lower his head like a child trying to hold back tears. But once again his instincts were about to be proven right as the wall behind him suddenly exploded and through the smoke, men jumped out with lasers and swords as they smashed their way through – the leader in the front of all this carnage was Sonny Blackbones himself. The last people to enter the scene were Artie and Rocket, who had been forced to hold back with Rocket carrying Tia in his arms and Artie still being a bit to wound to fight properly. The two young men looked at the ground around them and were glad to not have faced the pirate's wrath themselves. But once again the group was moving fast and the two men had to use all their strength and effort to keep up with them. They had to fight their way through the gun shots and metal heads blocking their way to the safety of the black manta. Their destination was almost upon them as they saw the exit and a view of the pirate's ship. Suddenly two more robots jumped down from the ceiling above them and were about to shot until Sonny slipped a device out of the sleeves of his jacket and through it at them. When the device activated, it became a magnet and the energy forced the robots together so much that they basically crushed into one another. Jumping over their bodies, the men made their way to freedom. Only the leader and his second in command stay beside the tunnel entrance to hold off the oncoming fleet.

"Get Tia to the ship!" Sonny ordered as he focused his aim on the metal people that were making their way towards them. Rocket only stopped for a second to give the pirate an admiring look before doing what he was told. As soon as they jumped on to the ship Rocket was directed towards the medical centre. Meanwhile, Bennet was ordering the pirates to get the ship ready but not to take off. Glancing a quick look over his shoulder to see everyone had made it safety on to the ship. "Corso let's go." He yelled, grabbing his friend by the shoulder and pulled him back just in time before a shot from the robots almost got him. Both men began running, trying to stay low as they ran across the streets of Genesis and avoiding the shots that were being fired behind them. The pirate leader signalled to the pirates in the front view to take off forcing the two friends to run faster and jump on to the back of the loading dock just in time. Without another second to waste, the pirates flew into the air flew straight to safety.

"No!" Harris cried out, slamming his fists on the key board as he witness through the video cameras Sonny Blackbones and his pirates escape with his prize. His angry reaction caused damaged to the inner hard drive and blacked out the screen. Taking a few deep breathes, the man behind all this corruption tried to calm himself down. However, behind him Mike could not help but let a small smile spread across his face as he cheered that the girl had escaped successfully, thought he worried about her health. Evil laughter began to echo through the room as Harris voice crackled with sudden delight, sending icy cold shivers down Mike's spine. Of course I don't need her anymore, Harris thought to himself. Sure enough it was a hard blow but he had already collected what he needed from her. Soon the galaxy would be bowing to his feet.


	22. WHAT TO DO WHEN STUCK

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

"_Rocket they... they gave me something."_

"_It's ok Tia, I'm here."_

"_We're going to focus all our energy on an assault force." _

"_There's no need to have a go at me like that, I was only trying to help!"_

"_No!"_

**WHAT TO DO WHEN STUCK **

"_Hello viewers, as you know they have been many exciting secrets buzzing around the Aarch academy." Callie smiled as she walked beside the hotel that the Snow Kids were staying out with over a hundred fans by the doors trying to get past security. "One of them is the return of Tia, though no one knows if she'll be playing in the final matches of the cup and why…" Her speech was rudely interrupted when a crazed fan jumped beside her and took up most of the camera shot._

"_The Snow Kids are the best! Go Snow Go!" The fan cheered loudly before being dragged away by the security guards of the hotel._

"_As I was saying before no one knows why Aarch his keeping his players locked in the hotel, is something scandalous going on or…"_

The news reported was cut off again with a single click of the off button on the remote control that laid in the grip of the rock stars hand.

"Hey I was watching that!" Thran yelled at Clary who was laying naked under the sheets of his bed beside him. Her only reply was a sly smirk on her face, as she wiggled closer into his embrace.

"Sorry but I didn't want to be remained why I have been stuck in this hotel for the past couple of days." She teased him as she popped on of the chocolate covered strawberries they had ordered from room service a few moments ago. She placed it between her lips and winked her eyebrows at her boyfriend. Laughing at her advances he leaned forward and placing his lips against her. Breaking apart, the defender was now the one with the piece of fruit.

"Surely spending all your time with me hasn't been that bad." He questioned, as he began to doubt his seductive man skills. His commented was soon followed by a playful punch to the chest.

"Are you kidding, it's the only fun I get, I would just like to go out and stretch my legs and all" She whined at her lover as she collapsed on to the soft pillows of the bed. If Thran was being honest he felt really guilty about trapping his girlfriend inside the hotel with him. As soon as the pirates brought Tia and Rocket back the journalist had somehow caught wind of the return and were determined to find out what's been going on; on the plus side, it meant D'jok was able to spend more time with his father; since the pirates couldn't leave without exposing themselves. Not to mention Aarch had decided it was a good opportunity to train the Snow Kids until they had no more energy in their bodies, the coach had given them the morning off. "It was nice of your brother to let us have the room to ourselves." Clary smiled dreamily as she cuddled into his chest. Yes, it was nice to have time to themselves.

Tia let out a cry of pain as she wrestled with the covers of her hospital bed. Sitting in the seat next to her, Rocket leapt up where he was sitting and pushed her down. There was no use calling for Dame Simbai, there was nothing she could do apart from making his lovers condition worse; Tia was going to have to get past this on her own. After struggling with her to calm down again, his body went suddenly limp and fell back on the bed again. He stood where he was for a moment and carefully watched the monitors to see if there was anything unusual. Seeing that she was stable, he sat back in his seat. It had been getting better over the few days they had brought her back, she would mostly have a least five major attacks to at least two minor ones a day. Her parents had not been able to see her because of the trouble getting here and were trying to do some damage control and his parents had gone to see Aarch –probably trying to convince him to let Rocket leave the team for a while- everything was whizzing past his head so fast. Releasing a sigh of relief, Rocket sat back in his seat and buried his head in his hands. She hadn't woken up once since she arrived back here and Rocket had been going over the long speech he had planned and all the things he was going to give to her to make up for his mistakes. All he had to do until then was just sit and wait.

"How is that even possible?" Artie cried out as he and the pirates watched the amazing site before them. It had been Mei's idea of getting rid of the stress the D'jok had gained from the baby news and the cup, since he had just been a pain in the but lately about facing the shadows in the semi-finals –It was possibly their first cup that they weren't facing the lightening's in the semi-final. What Mei was challenged him to do was do a hundred push ups on one hand with Mei on his back. However, what the pirates found so fascinating was how Mei laid so comfortably on her boyfriend's back and painting her nails at the same time. Hearing his comment, Mei turned to look at the youngest pirate and gave him a wink.

"I'm afraid a magician never reveals her secrets." Mei smirked at him before she continued with her artwork. As time went by, Mei seemed to finish her painting the same time D'jok finished doing his push ups. All of the men had to be careful about what they said or did after they found out about their leaders future grandchild, they weren't supposed to know but it was kind of hard not to notice the protective manner the men had around her; that and the fact Mei had emotional break downs over little things. Though the pirates found it funny when she slapped D'jok around the head for something- when Sonny wasn't looking they liked to show whipped movements at him.

"So, what you pirates doing today? Stealing stuff from Technoid or finding out who's behind all this mess." The striker half joked as he sat up on the floor and wrapped his arms around his fiancé waist. The only response he got was a shrug.

"I'm not sure about the Technoid thing but I'm defiantly ordering some more of that chocolate cake." Artie smirked in delight which earned him a smack on the back of his head from Corso – you would think all the beaten he got he would have had some common sense knocked into him. Mei and D'jok only smiled at him; at least they didn't have to worry about them for one other night. The little family moment was interrupted when Aarch voice echoed over the monitor announcing training.

"Is it the afternoon already." Both D'jok and Mei said at the same time both checking the watchers to see it had turned one o'clock. They both groaned but got off the floor anyway.

"I'll see you in the training room." Mei spoke, giving him a slight peck on the cheek and giving a quick to everyone else left her room to go and get changed.

Rocket was trying to force himself to concrete on his training but he and the team noticed that most of his reactions were slower then they usually were. It was because his mind kept wondering over his beloved that lay ill in bed. Not to mention the fact that he was tried; really tired. Despite all this and Aarch's constant yells to tell him to pay attention he think he managed to pull off a good streak in the end, with a good goal and a successful penalty against the Wamba holo players. They were just finishing of the last few minutes and Rocket had just made a beautiful pass to Mei who shot it over to D'jok and then aimed it into the goal. Micro-Ice jumped up and down in joy when he saw the beautiful shot that was made by his best friend. With moves like that and their team work there was no way they could lose this cup. Besides, the last few matches they had survived through the skin of their teeth, now they had the whole team back and Ahito was up playing goalie, though Dame Simbai, Thran and Yuki were keeping a close eye on him.

"All right that was enough for today." Aarch voice echoed over the intercom and the walls around the Snow Kids began to disappear around them and back into reality. It took the Snow Kids a few moments to realise something was missing.

"Where's Dame Simbai?" Ahito was the first to notice and questioned, noticing the mother figure that had been with them since they began to journey on winning the first cup had disappeared from her post.

"She said she was going to check on Tia." Clamp answered the goal keeper and before anything else could be said, Rocket had zoomed out of the room in a blink of an eye. The coach only just shook his head at his nephews devoted behaviour and gave all of the football players a speech on resting up and preparing themselves for the semi-final match against the Shadows.

This can't be happening, the captain cursed to himself as he ran through the hallways. He had just arrived at Tia's room from training to discover she was gone. For a moment he panicked, thinking that Technoid had stolen her away from him again until Dame Simbai came into the room and informed him that Tia had woken up and that she had allowed her to go to her room to have a shower. He didn't think to stop and knock as he barged her bedroom doors. He stood there for a moment and listened to the sound of water patting against the tiles in the next room. He was wondering to himself if he should leave the room quietly now he realised the situation he was in. However, he failed to notice that the sound had stopped from the bathroom and before Rocket could come up with a decision she walked in. The man could only stand there in shock with his eyes wide open as he looked at the beautiful site before him. She hadn't even realised he was in the room, he creamy skin shown with sparkles on her body from the condensation that dripped of her body, her hair was wavy and messy, as she gently played with her hair when she was drying out her hair with the towel, her well-shaped legs were wildly revealed with just a short white towel that was wrapped around her body. Finally she looked up and spotted him. Everything froze. All the things that he had planned to say to her had disappeared from his head and he could not work his tongue; all he could do was look at her. It seemed that she was having the same trouble. Rocket's heart was beating faster than anything he could have imagined, his breathing became rapid and he was finding it hard to think. Before both of them knew it, they moved towards each other, wrapping their arms tightly around their lover's body and embraced in a passionate kiss.

"That was just wrong!" D'jok almost shouted out if Mei hadn't slapped him on the mouth which now covered a muffled a slight scream of pain. There was no way she was giving up this opportunity because her boyfriends were a bit squeamish. Another moan echoed from the room and Mei's eyebrows shot to her forehead. "Seriously we shouldn't be doing this." Her boyfriend was trying to persuade her again but with no success as she just sent him a glare.

"Hey! I'm pregnant which means my hormones are crazy at the moment and right now my body needs sex and since we can't go back to your room and do it this is the best I can get!" She shot back at him before she press her ear back to the door again. D'jok could only shot her a look that said 'Are you crazy' but then decided she was carrying an extra person in her and that maybe he shouldn't push his luck. But still he felt really comfortable snooping in his friends like this, especially as he knew they were doing it but there was no way Mei would allow him to go anyway. That's when a sudden idea hit him.

"You know, there is a cupboard just up the hallway from here." He was happy pointed out. Mei took no time considering the answer as she grabbed her boyfriend's wrist and they both ran down the corridors, giggle like the lovers you would see eighties movie. "You know what the best thing about this is." D'jok whispered in her ear once they had reached the cupboard.

"What?" She asked, her hands already playing with his belt, impatient to get in the cupboard.

"We don't have to worry about protection." He laughed, Mei also giggled at his little joke as D'jok flew open the door and she pushed him inside.

When Rocket woke back up he felt some kind of piece come over him but couldn't help but feel something was missing. Slowly, his eyes flickered open, expecting to find his angel laying in his arms but only found an empty place instead. He shot up, and searched the room. His eyes fell upon the bathroom door which had been swung wide open. Carefully, he got up and slipped on his pants before making his way inside. The site before him turned his body cold. Tia was on the floor, curled up on the floor, shivering wildly and her forehead was dripping with sweat. Obviously she had felt the systoms coming and had snuck into the bathroom hoping she wouldn't dispute him while he slept. Kneeling down he pulled her towards him and held her tight, whispering comforting words into her ear waiting for the phrase to pass. When it did, Rocket lift her up and placed her back on the bed. Her handed her a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to cover her up before he went searching for Dame Simbai. Now Tia was all by herself as she waited for him to return. She wiped the sweat that still lay on her forehead and tried to relax. Gradually, she forced her body to relax, pushing the bad memories of what had happened in Netherball. Out of habit now she stroked the back of her neck where the device that had once been embedding in her next had once been, thinking how such a tiny device could cause so much trouble. The door opened and close and she opened her eyes expecting to see her boyfriend and the doctor above only to be confronted by two hooded figure. She screamed but was soon silence when the men pulled back their hoods.

"Artie! Sonny! You scared the living daylights out of me!" She cursed but her fright and anger soon died down and was replaced by a look of greetings.

"Sorry Tia, pirate habits." Artie joked as he sat beside her and both friends took each other's hand.

"Simbai told me what happened to you Artie, I am sorry you had to go through all that for me." Tia smiled sadly as she stroked a scar on the side of Artie's face that hadn't been there the last time he saw him. The man in front of her only smiled as he took her hand and pulled it away from his face – he didn't want her feeling guilty about something that wasn't her fault.

"Now don't you change the subject young lady." The pirate teased like an older brother would mock his sister. "I came here to see what you were doing and to ask for your help." At this Tia sat up a little straighter at this.

"What can I do to help?" She demanded to know. This was when Sonny stepped in and explained the situation.

The next day Rocket was holding tightly on to Tia's hand as she and everyone waited off the stage that had journalists surrounding the stadium like hawks waiting for their prey. Unfortunately for the Snow Kids midfielder it was his girlfriend that had to face them; all alone. She hadn't even considered what the pressure would do to her and all heard what that the pirates were trapped inside the hotel with the Snow Kids and made it unable to track down the people that were behind all of this. Rocket wasn't angry at Sonny for convincing her to do this (not that she needed much convincing) since the man had done a lot for them but he still wasn't happy with him either. He carefully studied her as she did one last rush through her notes, she had certainly improve health wise, she no longer had the purple bags under her eyes and her skin was nearly back to its natural creamy texture but she was sit far skinnier then he remembered. Sensing his eyes on her, Tia looked up and gave her a comforting smile. Aarch was annoyed with himself that he had to break up the small little thing between them but things needed to be done.

"Are you ready Tia?" He questioned, making Tia turn away from her boyfriend and gave him a confident nod.

"I'm ready coach." The star offensive midfielder replied and with a slight pat on the arm told her to go. Quickly she and Rocket shared a sweet kiss –they had become more confident in showing their feelings to people in public- breaking the kiss and looking at everyone else, Tia received a huge show of support with her team giving her thumbs up, Rocket's parents gave an encouraging smile and the pirates gave a nod with their heads. Taking a deep breath Tia made her way to the stage.

In all her life, Tia never really understood why her best friend wanted to be an actress and now that confusion was intensified when the lights from above burned her eyes and warm her body up like they were radiators. Shaking her head she tried to focus her attention on the hungry dogs in front of her. All of them were yelling at her all at once and she was finding it hard to get her point across.

"Yes you." Tia randomly pointed out as she was finding it hard to see how was. A person that looked like a lightening stood up and played with his blue tie.

"Tia you disappeared at the beginning of the cup without any word of what happen, would you mind filling in the blanks?" The man asked, holding his micro phone out to her.

"I'm afraid my absence was caused by personal matters, Aarch did not make it official because he didn't want reporters following me around while I was dealing with my problems." She answered and quickly switched to another journalist, who sat a few rows away from the other one.

"Do any of these problems have something to do between you and Rocket, since you two have been separated for quite a while?" The reporter was brave enough to ask.

"Partly." Was all Tia said, forcing herself not to look at her boyfriend? She had already discussed with everyone what she was going to say and he was the one that even suggested the idea. "But I'm it wasn't the main reason, which I cannot discuss with you otherwise it wouldn't be personal." At this everyone laughed – she was a diplomat's daughter; she was bound to pick up a few tricks. "Callie." She called out next, knowing the woman was out there somewhere bubbling to ask a question and she was not wrong since the woman jumped faster than you could imagine.

"Tia now that you are back on the team will you be playing with your team?" The woman asked and Tia was quick to answer.

"I will be a Snow Kid again but as a reserve for the next match, I been out of practice and I trust Mark to keep the hold on the competition." She answered. After a few moments she spent a few moments answering a few other questions before saying good bye. Walking off the stage she suddenly felt tired and was glad to fall into the embrace of Rocket.


	23. SEMIFINAL

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

"_Sorry but I didn't want to be remained why I have been stuck in this hotel for the past couple of days."_

"_I'm afraid a magician never reveals her secrets"_

"_You know, there is a cupboard just up the hallway from here."_

"_I came here to see what you were doing and to ask for your help."_

**SEMI-FINAL**

All of the Snow Kids were reunited again once again in the changing room as they prepared themselves for the match. All of them were around the room doing their own stretches and warm ups to get themselves from pulling muscles in the match. They were keeping themselves preoccupied while they waited for the coach to come and give them a team speech. Nervousness was all over them as the prepared themselves for the semi-finals against the Shadows, where they would face Sinedd. All of them were trying to keep themselves calm, if they got through this match then they would either face the Technoid version five or the lightening. First they had to get through this match. Soon Aarch came into the room and everyone turned to face him.

"All right Snow Kids listen up!" He called out even though he already had everyone's attention. "We're one step closer to winning the cup a third time but we still have to win this match before we can go on into the final; I'm counting on you to put all your efforts in this. You know you can do it now win this match!" He cheered and all of the Snow Kids with him. All of them walked into the centre and placed their hands in the middle.

"Go Snow! Go!" All of the footballers shouted before most of them ran to the lift that would take them on to the filed while Yuki and Tia went with their coach to sit with him.

The two teams had just been placed on to the ground and were getting into their positions with Callie shouting excitedly about today's events. The match hadn't even started yet and there was already a stare match between Sinedd and D'jok. The red headed only frowned deeper when he saw the Shadows striker nasty sneer. I don't think I've ever seen such an ugly site, D'jok thought secretly to himself, trying not to chuckle out loud.

"What you laughing at loser?" Sinedd asked, his sneer replaced with a nasty frown; obviously the Snow Kids striker had not been able to hide the smile from his arch rival.

"Nothing just thinking how it's goof too feel beating you in this match." D'jok replied. Both men just stared directing into each other's eyes as they jumped from foot to foot, ready to jump and catch the ball. The buzzed went off and the ball shot up into the air. Both men crouch down and summoned their flux, both jumped up at the same time and clashed with each other as they tried to get the ball. Sadly, Sinedd was the first to grab the smoke and using the smog teleported. He reappeared some distance away and kicked the ball towards one of the other aliens. The other member received the ball with ease and began running down the pitch. Thran tried to stop him but the player just kicked the ball in the air and teleported, leaving Thran surrounded by black flux. The player appeared again further down the pitch and passed the ball to Sinedd who was running towards the penalty area. Mei saw this and summoning her flux ran after him, as soon as she was next to him, she side tackled him, kicking the ball from under his leg, making him trip over. She got back on her feet again and kicked the ball towards Mark who gave her a small sault before running off with the ball. Mei smiled at herself for the good tackle but a hard shove brought her back to reality.

"Don't do that again." The shadows striker warned as he made his way back into position. A cold shiver went down Mei's back as she thought back to the shadows versus snow kid's match eight years ago. You're not going to scare me this time! The defender swore to herself.

Further down the other side of the field Mark was dribbling the ball past a shadow's player and towards Rocket. The defensive midfielder had to stop when his way was block by two other shadows players. Taking a deep breath, Rocket summoned his flux and kicked the ball in the air before jumping over the two players, during his mid-way flight he managed to kick the ball towards D'jok who began running towards the shadows goal. He summoned the flux and around him and kicked the ball so hard that it went zooming towards the goal. However, the goal keeper jumped just in time and caught the ball. Damn! D'jok thought, he could hear Sinedd snickering down the other end of the pitch.

"It's all right D'jok you'll get next one." Aarch encouraged in the intercom. The striker took this to heart and went back to his position.

The match continued on and after half way through the first half no team had scored, the ball just seemed to fly back and forth through one end of the court to the other. At the moment the shadows had control of the ball and Sinedd was powering down the court. He had taken the game to a whole new level; he was a one man army. Everyone was too scared to get in front of him. Apart from Mei who was standing her ground. Summoning her flux she began running straight towards him. The defender and striker were racing head to head, seeing who will dive out of the way first. Just as they were about to bash into each other Sinedd used the smog to transport out of her way and reappeared just behind her. Now there was only Ahito in between the goal post and the ball.

I can't see the ball, Ahito panicked as his eyes began to blur. No! He thought, he had just gotten back on the pitch and already his sickness was over coming him. Thinking quickly, he bit the inside of his cheek hard, drawing blood. He was able to regain focus just time to see Sinedd kick the ball. Quickly Ahito leapt and grabbed the ball and like a monkey swung on the side of the post. Sighs of relief could be heard echoing throughout the whole of the galaxy. Taking the ball in his hand, the keeper kicked the ball back on to the field towards his brother, who received it on his chest and let it roll to his foot. Taking it with him and kicked it towards Rocket before he was ganged up on. The midfielder took the ball and taking a step back kicked it high. The ball curve past other football players until it reached Micro-ice, who summoning his flux did a few hat tricks before kicking the ball towards D'jok who attempted another goal but this time just bounced of the goal post. Frustration edged on every single feature of his face. The shadows goal keeper only pointed and laughed at him as he took the ball and kicked it back into the field again. Just like before, Sinedd was playing selfishly and thunder down the court, suddenly disappearing. He reappeared again just above the goal post.

"Ahito look up." Aarch cried out but it was already too late. Just as the goal keeper looked up Sinedd had already aimed and loosened. The sleeping goalie tried his best to stop it but the ball just touched the edge of his gloves as it hit the back of the net. Shadows fans jumped up from their seats as they cried out with joy.

"What? No! Go Snow Go!" Artie cried out as he listened to the radio through his ear piece. Once he had calmed down he looked up to see all three men were looking at him. He could only stand there and rub the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Sorry got a little carried away." The youngest pirate smiled innocently at his comrades as they headed further into the tunnels.

"Sonny are you sure we're going the right way?" Corso asked after a few minutes of endless walking.

"The scanner says we still have some travelling to do." Sonny called back as he looked at the scanner in his arms. What he was doing was risky? This machine that Clamp had designed had not been properly tested yet and led them deeper into enemy territory. However, they had not come across any robot patrols yet and the leader of the pirates couldn't help but feel something was up. They walked further one, keeping their eyes and ears pleaded for any warnings. Suddenly, Sonny's device went crazy and they all stopped at once. The pirates searched high and low for anything that could help them open the wall that held the secret behind the solid layer. Sonny was beginning to grow frustrated. It's time I took this to the next level, the leader thought as he grabbed a small device from his pocket. Pressing a button the laser began burning through the wall.

Back in Genesis stadium was Snow Kids were keeping up a strong defence. They could not risk their opponents gaining a second goal. Thran went in and side tackled shadows player, knocking the ball out of the Shadows gasped and took control, however the ball suddenly disappeared. No one under stood what had happened until a referee started beeping.

"_What? That wasn't a foul, he barely touched him." _Callie's voice could be heard screaming angrily through the stadium with boo's following her example. Just then a device flew over Thran's head and surrounded him in a red light. All of the Snow Kids ran towards him and surrounded him with looks of shock and anger on their faces. The defender could only give them a disappointed shake of the head as he was lifted up into the air.

Mei, Micro-Ice and D'jok lined themselves up as they prepared themselves to face the striker who was about to take the penalty. Ahito stood behind them not feeling his best but tried to seem normal as he crouched down and clapped his hands together. The Shadow strike took a few steps back before running up to the ball and using his long leg shot the ball to curve around the players and went straight into the back of the net. More cheers were heard as the striker scored. All of the Snow Kids looked sadly at each other. However, it was Micro-Ice that noticed something was wrong.

"Ahito." The smallest Snow Kid called out as he ran over to the goal keeper who was crouch over finding it hard to breath. Taking note of what Micro-Ice had said everyone turned to see what had got the man so worried.

"I'm sorry I don't think I can go on." Ahito breathed deeply as his friend crouched down next to him. Everyone heard it, including Aarch who was looking at Dame Simbai for information. The woman searched the screen for information in front of her for a few seconds before turning to Aarch and giving him a nod.

"Yuki, are you ready?" The coach asked the ginger haired sub who in reply gave a firm nod.

On the field the trade was made. Yuki watched her cousin being carried off the field with one of the medic supports. Stepping on to the field she was met with supporting looks from her other team mates before she took her position by the goal post. The game continued and the Snow kids were using all their might to put themselves back in the league with their enemies. Despite their efforts the ball found itself in Sinedds procession once again and was storming towards the Snow Kids goal for the third time. Mei was the only defender in his way. Standing her ground she summoned her flux and waited for Sinedd to get close enough before she went in for a tackle. However, Sinedd saw this coming and spun around her just as they were only an inch apart. The rough player took this moment to elbow Mei hard in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. Sinedd shot and scored. The sound of the half time buzzer went off.

"_Hang on that was a foul, what is wrong with the robot referees today?" _Callie demanded to know as Mei lay on the floor holding her stomach in pain. D'jok was running from the other side of the court towards her and crouched down beside her when he was close enough.

"Mei." He whispered gently as he tried to comfort her but it seemed to have no effect.

"The baby!" Mei couldn't help but call out in a panic as the pain in her lower body increased. For a moment, D'jok was gripped by a moment of fear as bad thoughts raced through his mind. Quickly, he forced himself to snap out of his dark thoughts and gripped his lovers face firmly between his hands.

"You're going to be fine, the baby's going to be fine but you've got to stop playing and rest." He pleaded with her and Mei could do nothing but nod her head in acceptance. While Mei was taken away with the medical support the rest of the Snow Kids were carried off the pitch.

In the dressing room, Dame Simbai was tending to Mei who was resting on one of the couches who had Tia and D'jok kneeling beside her, while Ahito was on the other side being tended to by Yuki and Thran. Once the two members were given the all clear all of the players sat down and mop. Aarch stood at the entrance of the room and looked them all over.

"Look at you all, you look like you've already lost." The man shouted out, bringing all of the Snow Kids attention to him. "Come on, we've come back from worse shakes then this before, don't let the score keep you from doing what you love, go out there and do your best." He spoke, giving the Snow Kids some hope but then Dame Simbai had to break some bad news.

"I'm afraid we can't send Mei back on the field, she took more damage than I expected." The medic informed the whole team. She was half lying and half telling the truth but in all fairness she was worried about the baby.

"But who can we send on the field now." Aarch informed, since Yuki was still covering for her cousin and Mark was still playing mid-field.

"Send me on." Tia called out as she stood from where she was sitting. Everyone gasped; surely Tia wasn't ready to be on the pitch yet. Rocket was one his feet about to protest her decision but Tia quickly stopped him. "I can do this." Tia whispered gently but everyone could hear the serious tone in her voice. Her eyes then turned to Aarch can partially begged him to let her play.

"Mark, you'll move down to Mei's position, Tia you'll be playing mid-field." The coach spoke and Tia almost jumped up in joy, thankfully she was a well-trained diplomatic daughter. "We can do this.

It took a while but Sonny was finally able to cut through the wall. With the help of his other pirates they managed to push the wall aside. As soon as the wall fell, the huge wall of dust blocked their way ad they had to shield their eyes. As soon as they could sense the area was clear they lower the arms to see a divesting sight that would haunt their dreams for a while. The room in front of them was completely trash, bodies were flung all over the room and blood splattered the walls.

"Quick, check for survivors!" Sonny ordered, being the first to jump in to the carnage and checking the pulses of the men around him. Their hope seemed to die down more and more as every time they checked a person they could feel no pulse beat. Suddenly something grabbed Sonny around the ankle and yanked hard, almost knocking the old man over. Steadying himself, he bent down near the man.

"You've got to stop him, he'll destroy Genesis." The man muttered slipping out a disk from inside his coat and handing it to the pirate. Graciously, the man took it and slipped it into his own pocket. He was about to thank the man and try to help him when he noticed he had gone dangerously still. Damn! Sonny thought to himself as he closed the man's eyes. Even if they were Technoid no one deserved this.

"_Well it seems the Snow Kids are in a spot of trouble, don't you think Callie." Her co-presenter asked his colleague who was still in a bad mood from all of the wrong fouls the robot referees had been causing today._

"_Indeed Nork, though I've seen the Snow Kids come back from worse than this and I've just received news that the teams are coming back on to the field."_

And she was right. The stadium was roaring with cheers as the two teams made their way back on to the field. Tia watched the crowd nervously; she hoped she was up to this. Now Tia wasn't sure she was up for this. The sweat of her brows was beginning to increase and her head ache with pain. Something warm and soft grabbed her hand and she turned to see Rocket smiling at her; suddenly she felt much better and was looking forward to kicking some Shadows ass. Finally, they elevator placed them on to the field and everyone jumped off. They had one more chance to take back what was rightfully theirs. Everyone got into their positions again. The game started off and D'jok and Sinedd summoned their fluxes and jumped into the air, spinning in the air both men kicked the ball at the same time, causing an explosion of fluxes. Somehow the ball managed to get to Tia and she was dribbling it down the pitch, stopping suddenly to kick the ball back to stop a Shadows player taking it before kicking it towards Rocket. The midfielder was being followed by to shadows player behind him and another was running in front of him. Dodging all three of them, Rocket passed to D'jok who with one mighty kick and aimed it into the back of the net, turning the score into one –three to the shadows. The ball was shot back on to the field and D'jok refused to let it go. Grabbing the ball between his legs he threw it up further into the air and using his flux made his jump high, he continued the process until he had dodged at least four opponents. Just as he was high enough to be above the whole audience he kicked the ball so hard that with a trail of flux the ball curved back down to the field and flew towards the goal again, making it a second goal for the Snow Kids. After this the Shadows became more defensive and that meant more aggressive. Tia was the first to feel the effects. She had been dribbling the ball to close to the goal for Sinedds liking and disappearing in the Smog he reappeared just behind her sliding with his foot out stretched, so his foot slammed into the back of her ankle, sending her flying backwards. Rocket was beside her in seconds and crouch down beside her, he didn't like the way she was lying so still.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" D'jok snapped, getting in Sinedd's face, who just smirked back at him.

"It's only a game D'jok." The Shadows striker teased but his moment of glory was short lived and the penalty device came and lifted him into the air. A smug grin spread across the red heads face. About time you got what you deserve, he joked to himself.

Meanwhile, Rocket was beginning to get more worried about his beloved who had not yet opened her eyes. But his worries were soon dispersed when she suddenly stirred and her eyes fluttered open. Their eyes locked for a few moments and Tia showed him a small smiled. With his help she was able to get back off the ground. Thran was beside them holding out the ball.

"I think it's time you used the magic foot of yours to get some pay back." Thran smiled as he placed the football in his captain's spare hands, who took the ball with great satisfaction.

Placing the ball on the ground and took a few steps back, quickly her turned to Tia who gave him a firm nod. Turning his attention back on the goal, Rocket close his eyes and summoned his flux. It soon disappeared as he ran up to the ball and kicked it. The round object whizzed past all of the shadows and into the goal. Equalising the score. The fans in the seats jumped up with joy and shouted cries of joy. All of the Snow Kids circle around Rocket leaping up and down. Now they only had to get one more goal. Though it was easier said than done. Both teams were playing a strong defensive against one another, making it hard for any of them to score a goal. There was only a minute left on the clock.

"Aarch they have to score now, they won't survive during over time." The medic called out, as she saw their energy levels.

"Did you hear that? You have to score now." He shouted urgently into the Snow Kids intercoms and his message was widely received. At the moment a shadows striker was heading towards them but it wouldn't last long. Thran summoned the Breath and slid the ball out of the feet, getting back up quickly he kicked the ball towards Mark, dribbling it halfway across the field before kicking it towards Rocket. Running forward, Rocket flipped over a Shadows defender and kicked the ball towards D'jok. Running towards the goal D'jok summoned the Breath and using all his might began running towards the goal. Feeling offensive the shadows player teleported out of his goal and suddenly came face to face but when he looked down he saw the ball was no longer in the strikers procession. The alien looked shocked and turned around to see the smallest Snow Kid heading towards the goal. The shadows player panic and disappeared once again and reappeared in the goal just as Micro-Ice kicked the ball. Breathe and Smog battled against each other until there was another explosion. The buzzer went and everyone looked just up to see the ball behind the white line. Everyone looked up at the screen to see the score turn four nil. Everyone cried out in joy and all of the winning football players jumped onto each other. The Snow Kids were going to the finals.


	24. THE MAN

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

"_Go Snow! Go!"_

"_Nothing just thinking how it's goof too feel beating you in this match."_

"_Sonny are you sure we're going the right way?"_

"_Mark, you'll move down to Mei's position, Tia you'll be playing mid-field."_

"_Did you hear that? You have to score now."_

**THE MAN**

Tia waited nervously in her room as she sat by herself and went over the video recordings before she was kidnap. She just wanted a little time to herself and was having a good time watching the videos. Sonny and the pirates had left some time ago now to do some investigating. Thinking of this she snapped her camera shut and looked out of the window. I hope they are all right, Tia wondered to herself. Artie had suffered the price already; she didn't want it to happen to anyone else. The bathroom door opened interrupting her thoughts and Mei stepped in.

"Oh you're awake." Her best friend noticed as she tightened the gown around her waist and sat on the bed. "I have some important news to tell you." Tia didn't need to think twice to know this was important. Whenever Mei put her problems before her hair it was something to listen to.

"Mei are you all right?" The blonde girl inquired, worried that something was wrong but her doubts were put aside when her friend only smiled and shook her head.

"I'm getting married!" She cheered and Tia couldn't help but get up and dance around in joy with her. After they managed to calm done just a little bit Tia pulled her best friend into a tight hug.

"I'm so happy for you." The midfielder sang for her friends happiness, finally something was going right.

"Tia will you be my maid of honour?" Mei pleaded and Tia was more than happy to stand up and take the important rolled for her friend.

"When are you having the wedding?" Tia inquired and for a second Mei thought to herself before answering.

"Well I and D'jok are still trying to decide if we should have it before or after the baby is born." She answered innocently. It took Tia few more moments to realise what her friend had meant and they were up dancing again and screaming their heads off. To Tia, it began to all make sense now; she was wondering why Mei and D'jok had been talking in whispers every time she saw them together and how her best friends' moods seemed to change every few moments if someone had said something. However, their cries of joy had been mistaken by the men walking by and before they knew it all the guys from their team jumped into the room.

"What's going on?" Rocket asked, searching the room for dangers. The girls just looked at the small group at first before they fell on the bed laughing. The boys could only look on in confusion until three loud slaps could be heard coming from the backs of Rocket's, D'joks and Thrans heads.

"I told you guys it only sounded like happy screams!" She scowled at the men like they were children. All of them dropped their heads and muttered their apologies. After giving the men a good telling off she turned to the two women who were trying to hold back fits of giggles. "We haven't been properly introduce, the names Clary Kilmurry." She smiled warmly as she held out her hand to Tia to shake.

After being told the good news, the incident with the boys and meeting Thran's new girlfriend; Tia had never felt so tired in her life and yet she still wanted to have a hot make out session with her boyfriend. Damn you hormones! She cursed as she snuggled into his embrace more as they watched a bit of television together. They were watching some corny love movie that was made back when their grandparents were born but they were just too lazy to turn it over. It seemed like Rocket was feeling the same as he slumped against her.

"I never thought that match would take out so much from us." Rocket yawned tiredly as wiggling his face in the base of her neck. She couldn't help but giggle as his breath tickled the sensitive spot on her neck. The captain smiled when she laugh; it was so pure. Despite how tired the man was, he felt his lips automatically began kissing her skin. Turning her head their lips joined together. Nothing serious happened, just some sweet pecks. They did not notice the sudden news board cast that appeared on the T.V until a familiar voice caught Tia's attention. Sitting up like a bolt of lightning, her whole body froze when she saw him. "Tia what's the matter?" Her boyfriend asked, seeing the terrified look in her eye.

"Rocket, it's… it's him." Tia pointed towards the screen, her who body was trembling now. Rocket took one look at the screen to see a tall, skinny looking man with spikey grey hair and a purple coat. I've seen that coat before, the captain thought to himself, his photographic memory searching every corner of his brain until he found the memory he was looking for. The hooded figure that he, D'jok and Mei had face was wearing the same jacket. He turned off the T.V instantly and brought Tia close to him. It was at this moment that D'jok and Mei entered the room…

On the black manta, Sonny Blackbones was looking through the data he had recovered from the massacre they had stepped into. Right now, he found no information about the person behind this and accept from the fact that the person had to be high up in Technoid to be able to sneak all this experiment and personal underground, he had nothing on who the guy might be. Plus, some of the tests were some of the same he had seen last time he had found information off of Bleylocks data. Which also meant that someone must have been working with his old nemesis to gain this kind of information? However, there were millions of people that worked for technoid and the leader of the pirate's guts was telling him he was running out of time. He hadn't been asleep for ages as a result of the nightmare he had stepped into and felt himself drifting off to sleep. However, this was interrupted when a sudden buzz from his computer began beeping loudly.

"Hello." He asked to find Clamp on the other side of screen. "Clamp is there something I can help you with?" He questioned, wondering why his old friend was calling him.

"I'm sorry to disturbed you Sonny but D'jok has news." The professor answered before stepping out of the way and allowed the man's son to fall view.

"D'jok is everything all right?" The worried father asked but his son only shook his head in response. He ordered his father to switch on the television to see the news. All it held was some press conference of a Technoid executive giving some speech about free energy. Like that's ever going to happen, Sonny thought to himself and saw no relevance to him until…

"Tia says that's the man who's in charge of it all." D'jok informed him, making the middle age man sit up suddenly in his chair.

"Are you sure?" Sonny couldn't help but ask and his son only replied with a firm nod.

"You should have seen her dad, she was scared big time." The footballer spoke in her defence. Sonny had to rub the temples of his forehead to calm the headache that was building up in his head. The man fitted in with the profile he had built inside his head but he would have to be sure.

Tia knew that Mei was worried about her. She could see it in her eyes every time she looked up in the mirror to catch her friend looking at her. Seeing the man on the television must have affected her more then she realised. She knew this because Mei had finished getting changed for the party and she hadn't even finished putting on her make up or even changed. Mei left saying small goodbye and Tia didn't really take it in. All she did was sit there in front of the mirror and stroke her cheeks with her brush. It was only when she knew she was truly alone that she broke down crying. She just couldn't take it anymore, she had been trying to act strong in front of everyone but slowly the memories of Netherball flashed through her head more and more. Sometimes she even wondered was it really the drugs that she was suffering withdrawal systems from or Netherball. Now she really understood what Rocket had been going through, she hadn't believed him when he said it was hard to get over. Now she knew it wasn't just easy to throw it over the shoulder like it was trash, it was more like crack and once you started it's impossible to stop. She was so deep in depression that she had not notice someone else entre the room, until they wrapped their arms around their waist. Jumping up with a start, Tia panicked until she saw the golden eyes reflecting back at her.

"I was wondering when you were going to let yourself go." Rocket pointed out, wiping her tears gently away with his thumb. Knowing that she couldn't hide it anymore, she let it all out. All Rocket could do was hold her close and let her cried into her shoulder.

"So how do I look?" Yuki asked as she walked out of the bathroom and span around in the fluffy pink dress. Despite what everyone thought, Yuki could be quite a girly girl when she wanted to be.

"Yeah it looks nice." Micro-Ice commented plainly, not even bothering to look away from the window.

"Okay what's up?" His girlfriend demanded from the other side of the room. Hands on hips. She had searched high and low to find a zip that was easy to undo.

"Yuki have you noticed we've been quite distant." He asked and for the first time turned to face her for the first time. She just gave him an odd look before a sad smile spread across.

"Micro-ice." Yuki sighed as she moved over to him with the grace of a cat. Wrapping her arms around his waist she pulled him into a kiss. The kiss was long and deep and when she pulled away the striker believed he might faint. "Do you feel quite close now?" She teased him seductively and Micro-ice could feel his knees nearly buckle. I am such a girl, he pondered to himself as he thought how easy he could get carried away by his girlfriend's romantic gestures. But right now he didn't care if he was feminine or not he was having the time of his life just kissing her. However, the sweet moment was interrupted by Micro-Ice's most annoying nemesis, who always seemed to have the worst timing to; Mark!

"Come on the parties going to start soon." The man cooled out through the door with her cousins protesting right behind him.

"Can't we get some alone time for at least two minutes." The joker whined like a five year old who just had his toy taken away from him. Yuki laughed and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Okay, I wasn't going to tell you until after the world cup but I have a surprise." At this moment her boyfriend was hooked, he had a thing about surprises. "After the cup I booked two tickets to the Lightning's planet for two whole weeks in this small hut in the middle of nowhere." She quickly had to slap his mouth to stop him doing a loud whoop. It may be completely innocent but her cousins would take it the wrong way. With a small laugh she took his hand and dragged him out so they could go and meet their parents.

Rocket waited patiently on the bed as he flipped through of Tia's books he had randomly picked up to keep himself entertain, he had considered putting on the T.V but he didn't want a repeat of this morning. The creaking of the bathroom door and out stepped his angel. She wore a dark emerald dress that had gold straps holding it up and was low cut to give a decent view of her cleavage but not too much and the dress was quite long but it had a slit on her right side that gave him a clear sight of her legs. He wolf whistled at the sight of her and she gave him a gentle slap on the arm.

"You look beautiful." He whispered giving her a gentle peck on the cheek.

"I almost forgot how well you clean up in a suit." She laughed as she sorted out his collar. Her lover long smiled back as he allowed her to do what she wanted as he played with her hair.

"We don't have to go to the party if you don't want to." He spoke softly, not forgetting the incident that had occurred only half an hour before. Stopping what she was doing she looked up into his eyes a little shocked by his idea.

"No I want to go." She answered stubbornly, as she finished fixing his shirt. "I want to have some fun with my friends, see my parents and celebrate that we've made it into the final for the third time in a row." Knowing that she was right and that there was no way he was going to stop her from having a good time. He pulled her into one more deep kiss before leaving for the party.

The room was packed with football players and family members. Everyone was having a good time. No drama, no kidnappings and no robots chasing them around the place; just some time to relax and have a good time with the ones they loved. Not to mention that good entertainment they were getting watching Micro - ice dance and the DJ they had hired had some pretty awesome tunes on his laptops. The best dancer so far was defiantly Clary who was tearing up the floor with her boyfriend and thankfully his parents had taken a liken to her; Thran's mum was one step closer to being a grandmother. Tia seemed to look at the door every ten seconds to see if her parents had arrived yet. They were half an hour late and it was starting to get her worried. Rocket's grip on her hand tightened and she squeezed back. Finally her prayers were answered wen two more people came through the door.

"Mum! Dad!" Tia cried out in joy, accidently interrupting whatever Keira had been saying and ran over to them, flinging her arms around their necks. They instantly returned her embrace, when she finally lent back it looked like her mum was going to cry.

"Oh honey, are you all right?" She asked, holding her daughters face between her hands so tightly that she felt like her cheeks were being pinched by an old granny with super human strength.

"I'm fine mum, I'm just so glad you're both here." She smiled generally – after removing her mum's hands from her bone structure- and pulled her parents into another hug. Once they had fully caught up on the good parts of their lives, Tia dragged them towards Rocket's lot.

The party was amazing. Everyone had a good time and Aarch made a very touching speech about how they were all excited about competing in the galactic football cup for the third time. Despite all the dancing and chatting that had wasted some of their energy away, Tia and Rocket were still up for some late night activities; it could have had something to do with the amount of alcohol they had consumed as well. They were amazed they had escaped their parents without any questions but they honestly didn't care. They had arranged to meet later at Rocket's room since Mei had gone to bed early and Tia needed to pick up – some sexy laundry for example. Quietly, she crept into her room and started searching through her underwear draw when a slight pat on her shoulder caused her to gasp and turn to find Sonny Blackbones standing right behind her.

"Sonny, what are you doing here?" Tia demanded to know as quietly as she could without waking Mei up.

"I'm sorry Tia but I needed to be sure, the man that you saw on the news was it really him?" The old man demanded, the girl had never seen the man looking so old before. When was the last time this man slept? She couldn't answer his question straight away because the thought of the man still freaked her out but she finally nodded her head. But the pirate shook her hard. "Are you sure?" The man asked one more time. A sudden anger began to build up inside her. How dare he treat her this way? Hadn't she done everything he had asked of her already? Why did he not believe her? With a sudden strength that she didn't know she processed, Tia tore his arms away from her shoulders.

"I was there for every stupid speech he gave about conquering the galaxy, I was there for every time he ordered a man torture because they didn't agree with them and I was bloody well there every time he spoke about how special my damn flux was and how it was the most important key to his success! So I'm damn sure that he's the main fucking bad guy behind this!" She snapped at him, sending the old pirate speechless. Without any more argument, Tia left and made her way to Rocket's room, wanting the comfort of her lovers arms around her body and his lips moulded with hers.

_None of the teams had scored a goal against each other and overtime was quickly coming to an end. D'jok had the ball at his feet and was racing towards the goal with Warren just behind him. He could just see the Lightning's goal in front of him and summon his flux, ready to shot. Stopping, he lifted his foot up about to make a final attempt of scoring but a sudden power lashed out and attacked not just him but everyone. All of the players were having their fluxes sucked out of them, even the people in the stadium and in the galaxy. In the centre of the whole thing was Tia whose body seemed to be taking all of it in. Her whole body was becoming a vessel of energy,as her form turning into a beautiful immortal being made out of blinding blue light; even the tears that streaked down her face were not human anymore. Finally she let out a massive scream and an enormous explosive rocked throughout the whole galaxy destroy everything…_

"No!" D'jok cried out, gasping for air. His heart beat rapidly as he body went into overdrive. What was that? The striker thought to himself as he fell back into his pillow. Praying that it had just been something he had eaten and wasn't a dream.


	25. THE FINAL

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

"_I'm getting married!"_

"_Rocket, it's… it's him."_

"_D'jok is everything all right?"_

"_I was wondering when you were going to let yourself go."_

"_I'm sorry Tia but I needed to be sure, the man that you saw on the news was it really him?"_

**THE FINAL**

The theme tune to the news echoed all over the galaxy as people turned on their televisions to hear about the exciting news of the galactic football cup. The whole galaxy was bursting with enthusiasm as they waited to hear the latest news of the two teams facing off against each other in the cup; the Snow Kids versus the Lightning's. Callie and Nort were up earlier on their talk show sharing their excitement while the teams were doing last minute preparations. Back in the Snow Kids hotel, D'jok and Micro-Ice were in their hotel room taking getting ready for their final match. Nevertheless, the small striker noticed that something was on his friends mind.

"You know, usually by now you would be cheering saying how it was our destiny to win." Micro-Ice joked, which seemed to still not get his friends attention since he was still busy doing up his boots.

"Hey!" He cried out when his best friend threw his t-shirt over his head, turning off his sight for a while before he was able to shake the material off and chucked the shirt back at the raven haired boy. "What was that for?" It took some time for the small guy to respond since he was rolling on the bed with laughter.

"Well… it seemed to be the only way to… get your attention." Micro-Ice snigger, however, his victory was only short lived when he noticed his friends attention had drifted off again. "Oh man! Don't tell me your dad got kidnapped again." He moaned and flung his arms on the bed.

"Micro-Ice! dad was not kidnapped." D'jok said stubbornly –not that he knew about anyway- now he was starting to get fed up with his friend's strange behaviour, it wasn't like he didn't have enough on his plate, the match, the wedding and the baby; or the baby then the wedding – whatever came first to cause him strife.

"Then what's with the distance look then." Micro-Ice demanded to know and this time he was deadly serious but when D'jok just gave him a shrug, it got on his last nerve.

"Just got a lot of stuff on my mind, that's all." Was all he said and it tick his friend off more. Every time he said that then he jinxed the whole thing; he wouldn't be surprised if something big was going on again while they played a match.

Meanwhile, the pirates were busy preparing preparations for their own means.

"I can't believe we are going to miss the cup for the third time in a row!" Artie complained as they walked through the dark alleyways of Genesis.

"If our plan works then you might be able to see it after all." Sonny snapped back at him, it wasn't like he wanted to miss it either he wanted to be there to support his son. But Technoid seemed to always be in his way –again! Not to mention something that Tia said to him last night had him thinking _'and I was bloody well there every time he spoke about how special my damn flux was'_ something about it had sent shivers down his back, what had she meant? Now he could never ask her because he had already upset her too much. "Everyone ready!" The captain asked and everyone nodded in agreement. Putting on their sun glasses and pulling there hat down low they jumped into the main square, disguised in their fan t-shirts.

Later on, the Snow kids were once again in the Genesis stadium changing room for the second time that week, doing some warm up exercises to keep their nerves from showing. They were all terrified. For some reason they had been able to win the last cup and that one before that but winning it for the third time… that was impossible. It was going to take a miracle for all of them to get through this. It wasn't just the players who were tense but their coach as well –plus the fans but there were too many to go through. I'm getting to old for this, Aarch thought as he rubbed the sore spot on his neck. He changed his mood quickly though when he entered the room to see the team who he had witness grow up from kids, prepare themselves for their match.

"I don't have much to say." The coach began and everyone snapped their heads to look at him, he was glad to see he wasn't the only one that was a little tense. "You're at a great team and I believe in you, I know you can do this." With this all of the Snow Kids jumped up and cheered, soon followed by the team sault as everyone made their way into their positions.

"I don't know why but I feel like I'm sitting in a premier seat for a movie or something." Clary commented as she stuffed buttery goodness into her mouth, while Mark and Yuki just laughed at the girl. However, Aarch was to stress to be amused.

"Clary the only reason I let you up here is because Adium loves your band and is dying to get backstage passes but if you're just going to joke then I will make you leave." The coach of the champions stated and turned back to his screen only to turn back seconds later and give her a glare. "Is that popcorn?" Clary looked back at Aarch to her popcorn a few times before she tried to hide it behind her back.

"No." She mumbled her mouth full of popcorn. Aarch just gave her another evil look before turning back to the main controls. The rock star legend made sure he wasn't going to turn back any time soon before she held the bag out towards the two football players sitting next to her. They couldn't take some at first since they thought they might chock if they didn't stop laughing but they did have some after they calm down a bit.

The original seven made their way on to the field. Being the last on the field, D'jok took a few moments to take in the surroundings before moving on to face his hero and the captain of the lightning team- Warren. On the other side of the field Thran and Ahito were sending knowing looks to each other, Rocket was keeping a careful eye on his girlfriend who was trying her best not to slap him around the head and tell him to stop worrying. Micro-Ice and Mei were sending each other cheerful looks to keep themselves occupied. Soon the match would begin.

Up in the Technoid box, Duke Maddox was not in a good mood. Not only had his new version of football players be a humiliating sight this year but now his assistant was ten minutes late. When did it become so hard to find decent people to work for you now a days, the old man moaned inwardly to himself, as he leaned further back into his chair. Deep down he knew why, it was because he had let Bleylock poison his mind, sure he thought he was ambitious but the general had been on a whole different level. Now he was never sure who to hirer or to trust anymore. Right now he tried not to think about it as he lay back and tried to focus on the match. However, his idea for a relaxing evening and a good game was destroyed when a handful of people jumped into his quarters.

"Hello Maddox, long time no see." Sonny smiled happily as his men secured the other employees sitting in the booth.

"Sonny Blackbones! How did you get in her and what do you think you're doing?" The leader of the Technoid Empire demanded to know. The old man just shrugged as he got up from where he was sitting and tossed his Snow Kids fan t-shirt in the air to make a point.

"We're looking for one of your men Maddox." Sonny answered, showing him a picture of the man they had grabbed off the T.V. "Wouldn't happen to know where he is do you." The only response he got so far was an even more angrier old fat man.

"I have no idea what you're doing here Blackbones but if you think…" He stopped mid-sentence when he found a gun right in his face.

"This man is dangerous, Maddox, he's been working behind your back and has created a weapon that could destroy the universe, he has to be stopped!" Blackbones told the man off. But the duke wasn't taking him seriously and it seemed like the old man wasn't about to give into the pirate so easily until a stroke of luck hit him. The door to the booth opened and Maddox assistant stepped in.

"Sorry I'm late, I…" The man suddenly paused and stopped on the spot when he saw the situation that he had stepped into. Everyone seemed to turn all their attention to him suddenly. "Well it seems I've stepped in at an inappropriate time." Was all he could say as he fiddled with the tie at his neck.

"It's alright Harris there's no need to worry. They seem to have business with Technoid that it completely nonsense." Maddox muttered darkly, not taking his narrowed eyes away from the man that stood above.

"It wouldn't have anything to do with the Netherball Sphere would it." A chilling voice echoed over through the small area. Again, everyone turned towards the assistant again this time with their mouths completely hanging off their hinges. Even the pirates were speechless since they had not expected him to admit it so easily. The only one that seemed able to hold it together was Sonny.

"Since you've explained that much care to explain what you're going to do with it." The old captain asked, as his gun slowly made its way from the Maddox to the man behind all this.

"Well you should already know Sonny from the last time you confronted Bleylock." Harris grinned wildly, which shock everyone to the core. Was it possible that this man was even crazier than his predecessor? "Well it's quite simple; I plan to use the multi-fluxes to become the most powerful man in the universe." The whole area had gone silent once again.

"Are you insane?" The Duke shouted, rising from his chair to face his employee head on; not caring what his nemesis thought or said. His assistant just laughed at him with something that sounded like a crazy villain from a kids Disney movie. Every person in the room was feeling on the defensive now and were tense in their seats.

"I suppose I am." Harris laughed at his boss. "But why should I care, I'm going to be ruler of the galaxy, I can make my own rules on what's crazy." He hackled once again and with a click of his fingers, robots appeared out of nowhere from the ceiling and jumped down on to the ground aimlessly shooting. The only reason that Duke Maddox was alive at this moment was because of Sonny knocking into the back him, knocking both to the ground. The pirates were soon on the offensive and were tackling the machines around them. Sometime through all the chaos Harris had run from the room and escaped. Soon Sonny was on his feet again and pushing himself through metal contractions went after Harris.

Warren and D'jok faced off in the centre of the pitch as they waited for the game to begin. Within seconds the ball suddenly launched into the air and only a heartbeat later the two footballers were after it, both attacking it as they tried to claim it. Since Warren had the most experience and had a lot of skill was able to gain control. The lightning captain quickly passed the ball to one of his other team mates before landing back down the ground and running down the field until he was equal to his partner who kicked the ball straight back at him. Both Mei and Thran ran up to the defender to block him. Warren tried to kick the ball to another team mate but Thran stuck up his knee just in time and the ball bounce off his leg and into the air. In the next second, Rocket was there and kicked the ball away. It flew all the way towards the other end of the pitch and would have been received but Micro-Ice if defender hadn't been standing right in front of him (the Lightning players were all very tall) so the ball ended back up in the clutches of the opposing team. The Snow Kids were playing a tight defence against the other team like they had in the first cup. Thran and Mei were sticking tight to their partners and the lightning's were finding it hard to pass their ball towards one another. At the moment a striker was finding it hard to pass the ball on but suddenly one of his team mates had escaped Mei's grasp and was in an opening. Quickly the striker kicked the ball but it was intercepted by Tia. For a while the game was basically the ball bouncing up and down the football pitch. Then Warren charged down the field and in the penalty box and kicked the ball high in the air. Luckily, Thran summoned his flux just into time and twirling into the air stopped the ball. Once he landed back onto the floor a smug look covered his face. It only lasted for a second until everyone could hear the loud booming voice of his girlfriend screaming in the back ground.

Where did he go? Sonny pondered as he ran down the hallways of the stadium. The man had completely disappeared out of site. I cannot believe this! The pirate swore to himself, as he searched the next hallway. In all the rush, he was not paying attention to his footsteps and was nearly sent flying when his boot got caught on something. Getting back on his feet he turned to see what had nearly tripped him when he noticed something unusual. Why do I seem to always be running around underground lately? He thought, as he slid the loose lid aside and jumped down. His feet instantly splashed into water. At least it isn't deep? He wondered as he tried to figure out with direction to go, until he heard splashing coming from the other end. Found you! He cheered as he pressured the suspect.

Above the match continued and the score had still not change. The crowd couldn't help but feel they were watching a constant reply of the same five minutes. The Snow Kids were keeping their defences up and the lightening was also putting up a strong offensive. Warren was at the front of the assault and was charging down the field like an unstoppable hurricane. It seemed right now he was at the height of his power as he stormed down the field surrounded by the Charge and was heading at supersonic speed towards the opposing goal. Everyone tried to get in front of him but he would just disappear and reappear later. From a great distance away from the goal, Warren kicked the ball towards the goal. Seeing the problem ahead, Ahito dived forward for the goal but he didn't jumped high enough and he headed up crashing on to the floor. Everyone had gasps on shock on their faces as the camera's zoomed in on the speeding ball as he moved closer and closer to the goal. Suddenly, a foot appeared out of nowhere and slammed into the ball. Micro-ice was using all his strength to stop the ball. The power of the two fluxes bounced off each other which caused the two objects to fly apart. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and cheered at Micro-Ice for saving the Snow Kids goal.

Somehow, Sonny knew he was getting close. The sound of splashing echoed around the pipes as he race down the pipes. His soon came to a beam of flickering light coming from somewhere above caught his eye. He examined the area to see a great ladder heading towards the top and the movement of light was caused by a person climbing up them. The pirate was quick to grab onto the ladder and start climbing after him. There was still a great distance between them and Sonny was racing double time to reach him. Finally he reached the light and climbed into the open where the summer's breeze caressed him lightly on the face, only to be smacked around the face with something hard. He had not realised how close he was edge until he tripped over it. His pirate instincts kicked in just time and was able to grab the edge. He looked up for a spilt second to see the crazed assistant standing above him.

"Well Sonny Blackbones, I never imagined we would meet face to face like this." The man smirked and stamped his foot hard on one of Sonny's hands. The pirate refused to let out a sound of pain as he faced the man head on. "I suppose I should thank you because if you didn't invent the metaflux this would never have happened." The statement caused only confusion to Sonny.

"What does the metaflux have to do with this?" Sonny demanded, he had not found any data to suggest any of this. The scientist only smiled as he crouched down so they were even closer.

"Do you know why the breathe of Akillkian disappeared?" Harris asked which only caused more confusion.

"Because the explosion moved the planet out of its orbit." The leader of the pirates answered but he only got a shake of the head.

"The breath disappeared because it had been sucked away by the metaflux and would have completely vanished if seven women had not been pregnant at the time who had absorbed it as well, along with the breathe." Stopping for a few moments to see if the pirate was following him, he continued. "Now just think what would happen if all the fluxes were absorbed at the exact same time, it would cause a massive implosion that would destroy everything." The man laughed at the very thought.

"But it's impossible, I cured the Snow Kids of the metaflux and destroyed it eight years ago." Sonny tried to defend his actions but he was interrupted again.

"All but one." Harris snickered lowly, which was so evil that the birds surrounding them took to the skies.

"Tia." Sonny answered in the end as everything came together. But how? He had taken the flux out of her like all the others. It seemed like the scientist was reading his mind because he was happy to answer.

"I can't blame you for missing it Sonny. Unlike all the other Snow Kids she's been able to using the breath since she was young, so the metaflux has had more time to be absorbed into her genetics." The man smirked as he pressed his foot down a little harder, making Sonny's hand loosen from the edge. Now he was using all his upper body strength to keep himself from following.

"So you kidnapped Tia to steal the metaflux." Sonny stuttered out quickly. He needed to keep this guy talking so he could come up with a plan.

"Yes and no." Harris answered and Sonny nearly lost his grip from shock. What the hell does that mean? The pirate wondered. "You see the reason why the metaflux is being kept at bay for the moment is the Breaths unique ability to be a protective shield against other fluxes. But if I take some of the metaflux and then send a signal towards the other flux, it causes a reaction and breaks the shield, which allows the metaflux to absorb every flux surrounding it. " He finished. Sonny could only stare at the man in pure horror.

"But that… that's insane!" Sonny cried out, unable to stop himself. "If you do that than your creating…"

"A massive bomb that can wipe out the whole universe." Harris grinned and stomped his foot on the other hand. "I think I've said enough. Bye, bye Blackbones." Harris grinned as he kicked off Sonny's remaining hand. Sending the pirate to floor of Genesis.

The end of half time was fast approaching and there had been no other close encounters from any side of the teams. One of the lightning's strikers was making another attempt to make a goal and Thran was preparing himself to tackle him when something devastating happened. Just as he was a few steps away his foot tripped over something and slammed straight into the player, knocking them both to the ground. Thran got up and tried apologising but the damage had already been done. The referee came along and beeped for a penalty. They had not realised that they had fallen into the penalty area. Oh crap! Was all Thran could think. The people were sat in a tense silence as Warren was chosen to take the kick. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as all the players got into their positions. Ahito was feeling the most nervous out of all of them. If he didn't catch this he could end up making the Snow Kids losing the cup. He made himself take deep breaths as he pushed out everything round him and focused his attention only on the ball and Warren. The striker took a few steps and with a small run up kicked the ball.


	26. END

**LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL**

"_Micro-Ice! dad was not kidnapped."_

"_I can't believe we are going to miss the cup for the third time in a row!"_

"_Sonny Blackbones! How did you get in here and what do you think you're doing?"_

_"But it's impossible, I cured the Snow Kids of the metaflux and destroyed it eight years ago."_

"_A massive bomb that can wipe out the whole universe."_

**END**

The whole galaxy was silent as everyone watched. The explosion between the fluxes finally died down to reveal the results. In the centre of the goal stood Ahito with his arm stretch out as he tried to hold the ball back. He looked up to see he had been able to keep the ball just on the other side of the line. Once everyone realised what had happen everyone bounce up and down with joy. Ahito ran out of the goal and jumped into the crowd of happy team mates. The fans were going crazy in the stands; the Snow Kids still had a chance of winning the cup. Warren face was expressionless through the whole thing. He did not seem too pleased to have missed the goal but not angry either. The buzzer sounded and announced the end of the first half. Everyone was glad to have a small break from all the suspense for a while and also gave the football players a short break.

Sonny could feel the wind whiz past his ears as he plummeted towards the earth. Come on, come one! He swore as he fiddled with a device that he had slipped out of his sleeve. His fingers dashed across the screen as he tried to press the proper buttons. Finally, he pressed one button that worked and instead of smashing into the ground he found himself zooming back up until the device found a metal railing. I love these magnets Sonny thought as he pulled himself to safety. Flipping the device into the air and then back into his pocket. His mind soon found himself focus back on the task ahead and with a new sense of urgency and ran towards the closet staircase.

After some rest and a small pep talk from the coach, the teams were back on the field ready to face each other in the second half. D'jok gave a small kiss on Mei's cheek before making his way to his position. The defenders cheeks redden slightly at the public display (it wasn't like it was the first but it always made butterflies in her stomach) all the Snow Kids made small snickers around the embarrassed woman, which only made her more embarrassed. A similar exchanges was made between Tia and Rocket but were made less public. It had been a warm gentle graze across her skin but it had lasted a second longer than it should have done. They both sent smiles to each other before they turned their minds to the task ahead. The next half of the match would make or break them. For the second time that day, D'jok and Warren met in the centre of the pitch where they faced each other off for the ball. The buzzer for the second half went off and both strikers found themselves surrounded by their own fluxes as they jumped up a battled for the ball. This time it was D'jok who claimed victory and kicked the ball towards Tia, who began dribbling the ball down the field. Stopping for a few seconds to dodge a lightening's defender and kicked it towards Rocket who did a kick flip over another alien player. Micro-Ice gained control of the ball and kicked it towards the Lightning's goal, only to be caught by the goal keeper. It was the first offensive move the Snow Kids had made and it had back fired. Disappointed with himself, Micro-Ice made a childish foot stomp on the ground.

"Come on Micro-ice, you'll get the next one." Rocket shouted encouragement to his position into it. It seemed the small striker shrugged off his mistake and prepared for the next attempt. It seemed at first that Aarch had changed his strategy to make his players more offensive but it seemed that little attempt by Micro-Ice was only a temporary situation since the Snow Kids were still holding up a strong defensive barrier against the opposing team that were trying to steal their title.

I'm getting to old for this, Sonny wondered once he finally reached the top of the building. His was very fit for a man his age but all that running up those stairs had really got to him, when he was younger he used to do twice that amount without breaking a sweat. Pushing the thought that he needed oxygen out of his mind he focused his thoughts on finding the son of a bitch that had nearly killed him. His eyes scanned the surrounding rooftops. Just in the distance he could see a purple figure jumping over rooftops. You've got to be kidding me! The pirate thought as he raced after him.

Back on the field, the audience couldn't help but feel they were watching the same first half and if hadn't been glued to their chairs in suspense then they probably would of said something about it. Rocket had just preformed another leap kick from above Mei, Thran and Warren, passing the ball to Tia. Using her flux she jumped into the high and performing a somersault kicked the ball towards the goal. For a second the goal keeper panicked as her leaped for the ball. His hand just managed to lightly graze the ball, which was enough to hit the goal post instead and bounce out of the goal. As Tia gracefully landed back on to the ground she looked up to see the results and was disappointed to find out she had missed. A warm hand wrapped around hers made Tia look up to see the love of her life looking lovely at her.

"You'll get the next one." He tried to encourage her but she still seemed a little glum that she missed her shot. She would have to put those thoughts to the side though made make her way back to her position; giving Rocket the cold shoulder. Tia knew she needed to prove to everyone she deserved to be back on the team. They hadn't shown it at first but she had heard whispers and mumbles that they didn't think she was up for it. I can do this, I have to do this! She told herself firmly as Rocket watched from a distance with a worried expression on his face. The match continued and it seemed that Tia was getting more and more aggressive. Everyone could sense that her Netherball side was revealing itself and no one knew how to stop it. The final straw was when she roughly knocked over a defending lightning striker that had been trying to take the ball for her. This had not gone unnoticed and a referee came along and signalled a red card. It was only when the red glow surrounded Tia that she had realised what she had done – she had never been given a red card before. In the parents boot, Tia's parents could only gasp in shock with worried looks from Rocket's. She couldn't bring herself to look at Rocket who was standing right beside her shouting out her name as he tried to get her to talk to him. Finally she was lifted up into the air leaving the team to clean up her mess. The lightning's were given a corner and all the players were down the other end of the field ready to take it. The other striker kicked the ball and it flew into the crowd of people. For a few moments the crowd wasn't sure who had the ball until Mei jumped out and kicked the ball far away for their goal. Now everyone was beginning to wonder how many close encounters the Snow Kids could take.

It was like Batman chasing the Joker across Gotham city as the pirate leaped over another roof top. Where is this guy taking me? Sonny wondered. He had only been able to catch up with the mad man a little bit but there was still a large distance between him. The leader of the pirates was racking his brain to try and think ahead. Think Sonny, he said something about a signal? What would he use? His brain was racking over the last schemes that the pirates had stolen from technoid over the past few weeks but nothing in those plans ever talked about a signal device. For some reason, his mind snapped back to the news report from a couple of nights ago. That's it! He thought, as he jumped off the side of the roof.

Tia was back on the field again and this time she was trying to hold herself back. However, she was holding herself back to much and it was effecting how the team was being played. A part of her just wanted to hide under a rock and cry her eyes out at what a failure she was.

"Aarch." She called into her intercom on the private line so she wouldn't distract her team mates.

"What is it Tia?" Her coach answered with a touch of concern in his voice. Taking a quick look around, she saw that her assistance was not needed before continuing.

"I can't do this, you've got to take me off the pitch, I'm screwing everything up." Tia admitted to him. She knew if her team wanted any chance of winning she would need to take herself out. There was a moment of silence before Aarch seemed to come back with a decision.

"Okay Tia, Marks going to take your place." The man said and disappeared of the other end of the line. Everyone got confused why the game was suddenly put on hold. Rocket was the last one to notice.

"Tia!" Mei cried out when she saw her friend climbing on to the lift. Has she been hurt? Rocket wondered for a second as he span around on his heels but when she saw her she wasn't being taken away by a medical device.

"Tia." He said quietly so that no one could hear it. Quickly he began running her name shouting her name louder as he approached but she was already up in the air flying away. "Tia talk to me!" Rocket begged but even from a long distance, he could see her ripping out the ear piece. He could only stand there a little hurt by her actions.

"Just gave her a breather Rocket, she'll be find." D'jok said, suddenly appearing behind the captain who still had his eyes on Tia. The only sign of acknowledgement that Rocket gave was a small nod. Giving him a friendly pat on the back, the red head moved his friend away from the sad site. The captain was forced to put his worries aside as and focus on the match ahead. Soon Mark was on the pitch and the game had restarted.

Nobody's going to get in my way now, nobody! Harris chanted to himself over and over again as he ran closer to his destination. He had waited years for this day. Maddox had never seen it coming with how cleverly he had sneaked his own plans into his bosses own plans. The new energy plant was just a decoy to have his own machine built in the perfect location and no one knew about it except himself and his long dead colleagues that lay somewhere under Genesis. Though he hadn't planned on Sonny busting him in front of everyone and was forced to run across rooftops instead of taking his car but these were all minor sit backs. Soon he would have all the power in the world. The constructed building just lay before him and climbed on one of the rafts before hosting himself up. He needed to be careful because the building had not finished yet and some places were still unstable. Holding on to the side of the bars he carefully hurried his way along. He was about three quarters away up the building when someone slammed into his face.

"I think that almost makes us even." Sonny cursed as he leapt down from his hiding place. "You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily."

"Blackbones! You will live to regret that." He swore, as he kicked some kind of object at him, forcing the pirate to dodge out of the way so there was just enough room for Harris to sneak past. Again, the man had a head start but he was not athletic like Sonny and soon found himself thrown to the floor. The man both punch and kicked each other, as Harris tried to escape so he could reach the top of the building. Finally, he was able to push the pirate off him and began running towards the stairs. However, Sonny was close behind in pursuit. Not more bloody stairs! Sonny swore as he ran up them.

Meanwhile, the Snow Kids were still holding a strong defence and their playing had strengthen again with Mark on the team and was able to pick up some of the misses that had been caused by the Snow Kids tiredness. Nevertheless, the second half came to an end and both teams were allowed a short rest before they went into overtime. All of the Snow Kids were clutching on to each other for support since they were all so worn out, especially Mei and Ahito. Yuki and Clary were already in the changing room waiting for them and after smothering their lovers with kisses helped them to their seats. With the help of their friends, everyone was able to settle down except Rocket who wanted to talk to Tia. As the Snow Kids rest, Aarch was outside, trying to think of a speech to give his team when he felt another presence. Turning he found Tia standing behind him, shuffling nervously on her feet.

"Tia, I thought you would be in there with Rocket." He asked the young girl who seemed to be even more nervous than before.

"I can't face them coach, I've let them down." Tia quickly stuttered out before she could take them back. She knew she sounded stupid but it was true. Despite how much the midfielder to herself she was in control, she had let out her dark side. Her head was bowed so low that she could see her trainers. A warm hand suddenly touched her shoulder.

"Tia, not matter how much you've tried to hide it everyone can see that the trauma has hurt you deeper then we can ever imagine." Aarch told her with such firmness and knowing that it seemed to give Tia enough courage to look him in the eyes. "I know what you're going through Tia, I had a similar experience with the Smog but you've got Rocket to look out for you who knows the burden you share, I know you'll both make it through this." He smiled and he could see tears forming in the girls eyes but she held them back.

"Thanks coach." She smiled and she allowed him to lead her into the changing room. As soon as Rocket and Tia both saw each other they ran to each other and embraced, it looked like they would never let each other good. "I'm sorry for my behaviour, I love you." She pleaded into his shoulder and she felt his grip around her waist tighten.

"There's nothing to forgive I love you too." He whispered back in her ear. In the corner, Dame Simbai was having a quiet and firm discussion with both D'jok and Mei, who seemed to be nearly out of it.

"Everything alright Dame Simbai?" Aarch asked when he noticed the hush discussion. All three of them jumped to attention and stared at him before D'jok and Mei shared nervous glances with each other.

"I'm afraid I can't allow Mei back on to the field." Dame Simbai said stubbornly, taking the man's attention away from the couple on to her for a little while.

"Why?" He questioned, turning a suspicious glance back at the two players. Again they gave nervous glances at each other and they seemed to share a secret conversation before D'jok took his girlfriend's hand and stared at his coach with a determined look in his eyes.

"She's pregnant." The striker simply stated. The whole room froze except from the twitching of heads the bounce to Aarch, to Mei and D'jok then Aarch again. Everyone was waiting for the long rant the coach was about to dish out so they all knew when to hide behind the sofa to escape most of the carnage.

"I should give you to a lecture from keeping some like this away from the team but I'm too happy for you to really care." Aarch smiled, sending everyone into shock. If this had been a proper kids cartoon they would have all been knocked over with a bowling ball by now. Mei and D'jok looked happily at each other and then the coach with great beams on their faces. The whole team made sure that their captain wasn't going to blow his top off they all congratulated their team mate's good news.

"Aarch, is it okay that Yuki takes my place, I'm a little tired." Ahito asked and he was right, he didn't look very well at all.

"Yuki?" Aarch asked and the girl jumped to her feet like she was a soldier answering a general's command.

"I'm ready coach." She smiled and she sent her cousin an encouraging grin while he responded with thumbs up at her.

"Tia, are you ready to go back on?" He asked and everyone turned to face the snow haired beauty. With a small glance at Rocket who only smiled back at her, turning back she gave a firm and confident nod. "All right everyone, you know what you are doing, this match is yours, take it!" The ex-footballer mentioned and everyone got up and cheered their football anthem. The Snow Kids soon returned to the field for the third time, ready to face the lightning's in the overtime once. All they needed was one goal; they were determined to get it.

"Hey D'jok, I've got an idea." Rocket spoke over the intercom allowing everyone else to listen to. "Remember in the last cup when we used the flux at the same time and then we sent the flux to each other? Well why don't we use them both now."

"Are you crazy?" D'jok cried out into his ear piece and some of his team mates couldn't help but laugh.

"I know it sounds off but if we're going to put in a full frontal assault we're going to need all the help we can get." Rocket commented, they only had one shot to make this right.

"All right I'm in." D'jok answered, followed by a five more agreements – lightning's didn't know what they were getting themselves into. As Warren faced each other off for the final time both men could see how determined they both were to win this cup. The ball suddenly appeared and there was a collision between fluxes as both men went aggressively for the ball. D'jok kicked the ball into the air, sending his flux with it. The ball instantly reacted with Thrans own and the ball was drawn to him, spinning in the air, Thran kicked the ball towards the goal but the aim was off and it went flying into the goal post, causing a dent.

They ran all the way up the building. Barely reaching the top before his pursuer, Harris dashed across the rooftop and somewhere jumped into one of the machines on the building. Sonny reached the top to see his taunting nemesis waving. "Bye Blackbones!" Harris smiled as he slammed the door. The pirate was there within seconds trying to force the door open but it was jammed shut. Inside, Harris was turning the machine on. Sonny only knew when he saw a beam of light coming from the other end. Damn it! The old man thought as he ran to the end. He needed to stop it somehow but how?

On the pitch, the machine signal was starting to affect Tia. She had the foot at her feet when she began feeling a weird burning in side her belly. At first she ignored it at first and jumped into the air and sent the ball flying towards D'jok, who flux connected with it and pulled it towards him as he began running down the pitch with Warren close behind them. She was still flying in the air when a sudden stab like a spear being thrown into her stomach repeatedly. She clutched her stomach in pain. Something was trying to rip her apart.

Come on, come on, Sonny thought as he tried to push the devices neck up and break the signal. But it refused to budge. Everyone he ever cared about started flashing through his mind, D'jok, Mei, Corso, Tia… the list was endless. These were people that he had learned to care for in his life. Seeing that all his pushing wasn't working, he took a bizarre choice. Looking at the point that the metaflux was flying out of he kicked it. The end suddenly flew off. It seemed that without the point the machine would not work probably and he could see that the machine was beginning to malfunction. Taking things up a notch, Sonny began doing all he could to destroy the machine around him. Finally the feedhorn blew up and stopped the machine from working all together. Black smoke surrounded the whole area, forcing Sonny to step back and cover his mouth so he could get away from the poisonous gas. However, he wasn't the only person to fight his way out. The door to the device opened and Harris came running out, his clothes were torn and burnt.

"You've ruined everything." The man cursed at Sonny with a look of pure hatred on his face. Not thinking straight he ran towards the pirate about to punch him but Sonny just stepped to the side. None of them had noticed one of the loose cables on the ground and the man tripped over them, flying over the side of the building. Racing towards the edge, Sonny looked over to see the man had disappeared.

Suddenly the pain stopped and Tia had to stop her eyes from blacking out to make sure she landed on her feet probably. She swayed on her feet for a moment to regain her balance but soon jumped back into the game. D'jok had the ball and with all the force in the world kicked the ball towards the goal but it also bounced off the goal. Micro-Ice came running up beside it and kicked the ball again but it hit the metal. Next was mark who had similar results and then Rocket, who flung themselves into the air and kicked the ball. But that bounced off the top of the post and went into the air again. Yuki used all her strength to leap from where she stood and jumping over half the pitch hit the ball with her forehead but it just hit the post again.

"_Oh no! With all this bad luck there's no way the Snow Kids will score!" Callie cried out into the speakers with such distress. _

Tia stood in the middle of the pitch, standing still as she focused her energy. There was still some flux flowing from the ball that Yuki kicked and using that to her advantage, use her flux to pull the ball towards her. Spinning around she turned her back to it before, bending her legs and performing her signature back flip. The lightning's goal keeper panicked as he saw the ball was heading straight at him and using both his hands caught the ball between his hands and tried to push the ball away but it was too late. The force was so strong that it was enough to push him into the back of the neck. Everyone could only stare in shock. Above them the screen changed to one nil.

"Guys! I don't know about but… I think we just one." He said to everyone that was surrounding them. As soon as everyone figured it out, they all began jumping up and down with joy. Then the all surround Tia and lifted her up in the air.

Down in Genesis streets, everyone that was a Snow Kids fan was jumping up and down at the victory. In the shadows, Sonny was watching the end results.

"Well done guys." He smiled to himself before disappearing deeper into the darkness.

In the coach area, each person was hugging the closet friend next to them as they celebrated.

"I can't believe it we've done it a third time." The tiny technician screamed and danced around, turning red once he noticed everyone was staring at him and stopped.

"I can't believe you all had doubts." Clary smiled as she hugged Ahito and Mei around the neck – the girl was freakishly strong.

"But you made a bet that we would lose." Ahito pointed out to his brother girlfriend who only shrugged it off.

"Exactly, you know what my lucks like." She grinned and kissed him gently on the cheek. The goal keeper couldn't help but blush at the small contact and vowed never to tell his brother otherwise he would be dead.

"So Aarch, you think you can do it a fourth time." Dame Simbai inquired next to Aarch who had a huge smile across the his face.

"Who knows, with Mei's baby on the way, maybe it's time for the next generation to take over." He smiled and everyone laughed and continued cuddling each other in joy.

Back on the field the Snow Kids looked up to see the cup coming down from his route around the galaxy. Both D'jok and Rocket approached Tia, with mischievous looks on their face.

"We want you to take the cup." Rocket grinned and Tia couldn't help but look at the two men in shock. Before she had any chance to object both the men raised their hands to stop her. "He's ex-captain and I'm captain, you have no choice." After taking in what they had just said, Tia smiled and with a little push from Thran and Mark who had snuck up behind her, started walking towards the cup. Grabbing it in her hands she kissed the gold statue before letting out all her flux. The Snow Kids had won for the third time, what would happen next?


End file.
